CVE-2021-22159

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2021-01-26 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-306

Description

Insider Threat Management Windows Agent Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management (formerly ObserveIT) Agent for Windows before 7.4.3, 7.5.4, 7.6.5, 7.7.5, 7.8.4, 7.9.3, 7.10.2, and 7.11.0.25 as well as versions 7.3 and earlier is missing authentication for a critical function, which allows a local authenticated Windows user to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Windows SYSTEM user. Agents for MacOS, Linux, and ITM Cloud are not affected.

Affected products

Proofpoint Insider Threat Management: before 7.4.3; from 7.5.0 before 7.5.4; from 7.6.0 before 7.6.5; from 7.7.0 before 7.7.5; from 7.8.0 before 7.8.4; from 7.9.0 before 7.9.3 — fixed in 7.10.2, 7.11.0.25, 7.4.3, 7.5.4, 7.6.5, 7.7.5

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Proofpoint Insider Threat Management 7.10.2, 7.11.0.25, 7.4.3, 7.5.4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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