Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-3576 lets someone who already has local access to an affected Windows system abuse Bitdefender software to become NT AUTHORITY\System. That is the highest local privilege level, so the business risk is takeover of the endpoint after an initial foothold.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority endpoint hardening issue, especially where attackers could gain a basic user foothold. It is not remotely exploitable from the supplied evidence, but successful exploitation can give full local system control.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-250, execution with unnecessary privileges, involving SeImpersonatePrivilege. A low-privileged local attacker can elevate privileges without user interaction. Affected products are Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools before 7.2.1.65 and Bitdefender Total Security before 25.0.26. CVSS v3.1 is 7.8 high.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to Windows systems running the affected Bitdefender products and versions. The attacker needs local privileges first, so risk is highest on shared workstations, user-accessible servers, and endpoints where phishing or malware could provide an initial foothold.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Public advisories describe local privilege escalation impact, but the bundle does not provide exploit-in-the-wild confirmation.
Researcher notes
The vulnerability is local, low-complexity, low-privilege, no-user-interaction privilege escalation with full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. The sources identify affected version thresholds but do not provide detection artifacts or evidence of active exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Endpoint Security Tools to 7.2.1.65 or later.
- Upgrade Total Security to 25.0.26 or later.
- Check Bitdefender’s advisory for product-specific remediation guidance.
- Prioritize endpoints where untrusted users can log in locally.
- Track completion through endpoint management or vulnerability management tooling.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Bitdefender product names and versions across Windows endpoints.
- Confirm no Endpoint Security Tools installs are below 7.2.1.65.
- Confirm no Total Security installs are below 25.0.26.
- Verify vulnerable assets are remediated or formally risk-accepted.
- Recheck vendor guidance if versions or product channels are unclear.
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-250: 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 lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-3576 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.bitdefender.com/support/security-advisories/privilege-escalation-via-seimpersonateprivilege-in-bitdefender-endpoint-security-tools-va-9848/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-1276/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-1376/CVE 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.
Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
Execution with Unnecessary Privileges represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.