CVE-2021-22159
Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint...
Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management (formerly ObserveIT) Agent for Windows before 7.4.3, 7.5.4, 7.6.5, 7.7.5, 7.8.4, 7.9.3, 7.10.2, and 7.11.0.25 as well as versions 7.3 and earlier is missing authentication for a critical function, which allows a local authenticated Windows user to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Windows SYSTEM user. Agents for MacOS, Linux, and ITM Cloud are not affected.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management (formerly ObserveIT) Agent for Windows before 7.4.3, 7.5.4, 7.6.5, 7.7.5, 7.8.4, 7.9.3, 7.10.2, and 7.11.0.25 as well as versions 7.3 and earlier is missing authentication for a critical function, which allows a local authenticated Windows user to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Windows SYSTEM user. Agents for MacOS, Linux, and ITM Cloud are not affected.
- Record
CVE-2021-22159- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.2 High
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-306
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management (formerly ObserveIT) Agent for Windows before 7.4.3, 7.5.4, 7.6.5, 7.7.5, 7.8.4, 7.9.3, 7.10.2, and 7.11.0.25 as well as versions 7.3 and earlier is missing authentication for a critical function, which allows a local authenticated Windows user to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Windows SYSTEM user. Agents for MacOS, Linux, and ITM Cloud are not affected.
- Record
CVE-2021-22159- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-9306 No score
Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management (formerly ObserveIT) Agent for Windows before 7.4.3, 7.5.4, 7.6.5, 7.7.5, 7.8.4, 7.9.3, 7.10.2, and 7.11.0.25 as well as versions 7.3 and earlier is missing authentication for a critical function, which allows a local authenticated Windows user to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Windows SYSTEM user. Agents for MacOS, Linux, and ITM Cloud are not affected.
- Record
EUVD-2021-9306- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-52fx-r79r-42fh
Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint...
Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management (formerly ObserveIT) Agent for Windows before 7.4.3, 7.5.4, 7.6.5, 7.7.5, 7.8.4, 7.9.3, 7.10.2, and 7.11.0.25 as well as versions 7.3 and earlier is missing authentication for a critical function, which allows a local authenticated Windows user to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Windows SYSTEM user. Agents for MacOS, Linux, and ITM Cloud are not affected.
- Record
GHSA-52fx-r79r-42fh- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-269
- 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-2021-22159 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Proofpoint Insider Threat Management, published January 26, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.34%, the 27th percentile. No source names a fixed version.