Improper Privilege Management in McAfee Total Protection (CVE‑2021‑23874) Enables Local Privilege Escalation
What It Is
McAfee Total Protection (MTP) contains an improper privilege‑management flaw that permits a locally‑authenticated user to elevate privileges and execute arbitrary code, effectively bypassing the product’s built‑in self‑defense mechanisms.
Exploitability
The vulnerability is exploitable on the local system without network access. Public proof‑of‑concept code exists, and the CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8 (High). No confirmed active exploitation in the wild has been reported.
Affected Products
- Vendor: McAfee
- Product: McAfee Total Protection (MTP) – all versions prior to the vendor‑issued patch.
Why It Matters for Compliance & Audit Readiness
- Access Controls: The flaw subverts the principle of least privilege, a core requirement of NIST 800‑53 AC‑5, ISO 27001 A.9.2, and related frameworks.
- Continuous Control Monitoring: Without remediation, privileged‑account misuse may go unlogged, weakening the evidentiary trail needed for SOC 2, PCI‑DSS, or other audit regimes.
- Vendor‑Management Controls: Timely patching of third‑party security tools is a key control in vendor‑risk programs; documenting remediation demonstrates due diligence.
Remediating this issue directly supports a trustworthy control environment and helps maintain a defensible audit posture.
Recommended Actions
- Deploy the vendor‑released patch for CVE‑2021‑23874 across all endpoints running McAfee Total Protection.
- Verify patch status through automated inventory tools and capture screenshots or logs as evidence of remediation.
- Review and tighten local account privileges; enforce “least‑privilege” policies and monitor for elevation attempts via SIEM or EDR alerts.
- Update your vendor‑risk register to reflect the remediation status and include the patch date as part of continuous control monitoring.
Source: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23874