Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue could let a local user see McAfee Endpoint Security settings and credentials left in clear text in memory. It is serious for managed Windows environments, but the attacker must already have local access and must act shortly after an ENS administrator changes configuration on that machine.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation on administrator workstations and shared Windows endpoints. The flaw is not remotely exploitable based on the provided sources, but credential exposure from a security tool can undermine broader endpoint controls.
Technical view
CVE-2021-23878 is a CWE-312 cleartext storage issue in McAfee Endpoint Security for Windows before the 10.7.0 February 2021 Update. After specific administrator console actions, sensitive ENS settings and credentials may remain readable in process memory by a local low-privileged user.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on Windows systems running McAfee ENS 10.7.x before the February 2021 update, especially admin workstations or shared endpoints where administrators change ENS settings locally.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show known active exploitation or CISA KEV listing. Exploitation requires local access, low privileges, and timing after an ENS administrator performs specific configuration changes through the console.
Researcher notes
The source evidence describes memory disclosure after specific administrator actions but does not provide public exploit evidence. Treat affected-version boundaries carefully: the description says prior to ENS 10.7.0 February 2021 Update, while affected product data lists ENS 10.7.x.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade ENS for Windows to 10.7.0 February 2021 Update or later.
- Review McAfee advisory SB10345 for vendor-specific remediation details.
- Restrict local interactive access on endpoints used for ENS administration.
- Avoid making ENS configuration changes from shared or untrusted machines.
- Rotate relevant credentials if exposure is suspected before patching.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Windows endpoints running McAfee Endpoint Security and record exact update levels.
- Confirm systems are at the 10.7.0 February 2021 Update or later.
- Identify machines where ENS administrators perform local console configuration changes.
- Check whether non-admin local users can access those administrator workstations.
- Review endpoint logs for unusual local process-memory access where available.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-312: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-23878 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.35.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.3HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10345CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.