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ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2021-23874

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2021-11-03 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2021-02-10
  • Fixed in16.0.30
  • WeaknessCWE-269 · CWE-732

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Arbitrary Process Execution vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and execute arbitrary code bypassing MTP self-defense.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2021-02-1011:15CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2021-11-03Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  3. 2021-11-03Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  4. 2021-11-03Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  5. 2025-02-0421:22SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-04 09:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-23874?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-23874?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Mcafee total protection
BranchAffectedFixed in
16.0< 16.0.3016.0.30

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Products declared by the CNA1 product

As trellix, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • McAfee,LLC McAfee Total Protection (MTP)

    platforms: Windows

    Affected
    • < 16.0.30fixed in 16.0.30custom

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2021-02-10

Fix

  1. Update Mcafee total protection to 16.0.30
  2. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2021-11-17

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2021-11-03
Patch Due Date
2021-11-17
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

  • CISA KEVKEV entry2021-11-03
  • ENISA EUVDexploitation2021-11-032021-11-03
  • GCVEexploitation2021-11-03
  • CISA-ADPSSVC decisionactive2025-02-04
  • OpenCVESSVC decisionactive—
  • CNACVSS 3.18.2known since 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.17.8read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.04.6read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-269known since 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-732read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score1.0 %2026-11-03
  • GitHub Advisoriesadvisory—

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2021-02-10
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-jx9f-q7vh-wf4p

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-23874?

Arbitrary Process Execution vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and execute arbitrary code bypassing MTP self-defense.

Is CVE-2021-23874 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-23874 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2021-11-17.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-23874?

CVE-2021-23874 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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