CVE-2021-23873
McAfee Total Protection (MTP) privilege escalation vulnerability
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and perform arbitrary file deletion as the SYSTEM user potentially causing Denial of Service via manipulating Junction link, after enumerating certain files, at a specific time.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
McAfee Total Protection (MTP) privilege escalation vulnerability
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and perform arbitrary file deletion as the SYSTEM user potentially causing Denial of Service via manipulating Junction link, after enumerating certain files, at a specific time.
- Record
CVE-2021-23873- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-59
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-10799
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and perform arbitrary file deletion as the SYSTEM user potentially causing Denial of Service via manipulating Junction link, after enumerating certain files, at a specific time.
- Record
EUVD-2021-10799- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-99j6-pf9p-h77c
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a...
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and perform arbitrary file deletion as the SYSTEM user potentially causing Denial of Service via manipulating Junction link, after enumerating certain files, at a specific time.
- Record
GHSA-99j6-pf9p-h77c- CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-59, CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and perform arbitrary file deletion as the SYSTEM user potentially causing Denial of Service via manipulating Junction link, after enumerating certain files, at a specific time.
- Record
CVE-2021-23873- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 3.6 Low
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-59
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-23873 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Mcafee Total Protection, published February 10, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.66%, the 51st percentile. No source names a fixed version.