# CVE-2021-23873: McAfee Total Protection (MTP) privilege escalation vulnerability

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM and delete arbitrary files via junction link manipulation, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Feb 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-99j6-pf9p-h77c

## What is CVE-2021-23873?

CVE-2021-23873 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Total Protection (MTP), published on 10 Feb 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-23873?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Total Protection.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-23873?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-23873 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-23873 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-23873 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in McAfee,LLC McAfee Total Protection (MTP)

- [CVE-2021-23874](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23874/): McAfee Total Protection (MTP) Improper Privilege Management (high 8.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-24579](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24579/): Security feature bypass in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-43751](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-43751/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-23872](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23872/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-23891](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23891/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-23873 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-23873 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Total Protection (MTP), published on 10 Feb 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-23873 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: McAfee,LLC McAfee Total Protection (MTP). No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23873/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23873/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-23873
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23873
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-23873

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23873/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.