CVE-2021-23873: McAfee Total Protection Directory Junction Denial-of-Service Vulnerability

Published Feb 10, 2021
·
Updated

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.

Other sources

This vulnerability allows local attackers to create a denial-of-service condition on affected installations of McAfee Total Protection. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the implementation of the QuickClean feature. By creating a directory junction, an attacker can abuse QuickClean to delete a file. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to create a denial-of-service condition on the system.

Affected Software

2 affected components
McAfee Total Protection
McAfee Total Protection<16.0.30

Event History

Feb 10, 2021
CVE Published
via MITRE·10:20 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·10:20 AM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Feb 23, 2025
Advisory Published
via ZDI·07:55 AM
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is CVE-2021-23873?

CVE-2021-23873 refers to the McAfee Total Protection Directory Junction Denial-of-Service Vulnerability.

2

How does CVE-2021-23873 impact McAfee Total Protection?

This vulnerability allows local attackers to create a denial-of-service condition on affected installations of McAfee Total Protection.

3

What is the severity of CVE-2021-23873?

The severity of CVE-2021-23873 is rated as high with a CVSS score of 6.1.

4

How can CVE-2021-23873 be exploited?

In order to exploit CVE-2021-23873, an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system.

5

Is there a fix available for CVE-2021-23873?

To fix CVE-2021-23873, it is recommended to apply the latest security updates provided by McAfee.

Contact

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