# CVE-2021-23874: McAfee Total Protection (MTP) Improper Privilege Management

> A local attacker can bypass self-defense mechanisms to gain elevated privileges and execute arbitrary code on systems running McAfee Total Protection.

- **Severity:** High 8.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 3 Nov 2021 (CISA KEV)
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Feb 2021
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jx9f-q7vh-wf4p

## What is CVE-2021-23874?

CVE-2021-23874 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, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official 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.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource), CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-23874?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Total Protection.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-23874?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-23874 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 17 Nov 2021.

## Is CVE-2021-23874 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2021-23874 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021.

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

- [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)
- [CVE-2021-23873](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23873/): McAfee Total Protection (MTP) privilege escalation vulnerability (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-23874 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-23874 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, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2021-23874 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021.

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-2021-23874/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23874/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-23874
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23874
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-23874

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23874/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.