Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Intel Advisor installers before 2021.4.0 set unsafe default permissions. A person who already has a local authenticated account on an affected machine could use that weakness to gain higher privileges. This is not a remote internet compromise by itself, but it matters on shared developer, lab, or build systems where local access is common.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority local escalation risk, not a remote mass-exploitation event based on available evidence. Remediate first on shared or sensitive engineering systems because successful abuse could give a low-privileged user broad control of the host.
Technical view
CVE-2021-33129 is a local privilege escalation issue in Intel Advisor caused by incorrect default installer permissions. The CVSS 3.1 score is 7.8 with local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to systems with Intel Advisor installed before version 2021.4.0, especially where non-administrative users can authenticate locally. The sources do not identify affected operating systems, deployment patterns, or specific file paths.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated local access, so risk is highest after account compromise or on shared systems with multiple local users.
Researcher notes
Evidence is concise: affected product, version boundary, CWE-276, CVSS vector, and local authenticated privilege escalation are stated. The bundle does not provide installer permission details, proof-of-concept status, affected platforms, or vendor workaround text beyond the Intel advisory reference.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory systems running Intel Advisor.
- Upgrade Intel Advisor to version 2021.4.0 or later where applicable.
- Check Intel advisory INTEL-SA-00594 for vendor-specific remediation guidance.
- Limit local interactive access to affected systems until remediated.
- Prioritize shared engineering, lab, and build hosts.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Intel Advisor is installed on each endpoint.
- Record installed Intel Advisor versions and flag versions before 2021.4.0.
- Verify local user access controls on affected hosts.
- After remediation, confirm Intel Advisor reports version 2021.4.0 or later.
- Review endpoint logs for unusual privilege changes 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
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-276: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-33129 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-00594.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
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.
Incorrect Default Permissions
Incorrect Default Permissions represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.