CVE-2021-47787 Totalav CVE debrief

Who should care

Defenders responsible for TotalAV installations, especially those using LocalSystem privileges, should assess exposure and prioritize remediation. This includes verifying and remediating the vulnerability in their installations to prevent potential SYSTEM-level access through unquoted service paths.

Why it matters

CVE-2021-47787 is a high-severity vulnerability in TotalAV 5.15.69 that allows potential SYSTEM-level access through unquoted service paths. Defenders should verify and remediate this vulnerability, especially in systems using LocalSystem privileges.

• Potential SYSTEM-level access through service path exploitation
• Verification of vulnerable services and paths required
• Remediation of unquoted service paths necessary to prevent exploitation

Technical summary

TotalAV 5.15.69 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in multiple system services running with LocalSystem privileges. Attackers can place malicious executables in specific unquoted path segments to potentially gain SYSTEM-level access by exploiting the service path configuration. This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 8.5, indicating high severity. Defenders should prioritize verifying and remediating this vulnerability in TotalAV 5.15.69 installations, especially where LocalSystem privileges are used. Verification of vulnerable services and paths is required, and remediation of unquoted service paths is necessary to prevent exploitation.

Defensive priority

Defenders should prioritize verifying and remediating this vulnerability in TotalAV 5.15.69 installations, especially where LocalSystem privileges are used.

Recommended defensive actions

• Verify TotalAV 5.15.69 installations for vulnerable services
• Remediate unquoted service paths in system services
• Monitor system logs for potential exploitation attempts
• Review compensating controls for exposed systems while remediation is scheduled and verified
• Check relevant monitoring, detection, and logs for exposed assets that need extra review
• Track exceptions, retest remediated assets, and close the item only after evidence is documented
• Confirm whether affected product deployments exist in managed environments and assign an owner for follow-up

Evidence notes

The CVE record and NVD entry provide details on the unquoted service path vulnerability in TotalAV 5.15.69. However, additional information on exploitation or affected systems is limited. Defenders should verify the vulnerability in their installations, especially where LocalSystem privileges are used, and remediate unquoted service paths to prevent potential SYSTEM-level access.

Sources and references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.