CVE-2021-37851: Local Privilege Escalation in ESET product for Windows

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2022-05-11 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-280

Description

Local privilege escalation in Windows products of ESET allows user who is logged into the system to exploit repair feature of the installer to run malicious code with higher privileges. This issue affects: ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 11.2 versions prior to 15.1.12.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Internet Security 11.2 versions prior to 15.1.12.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Smart Security Premium 11.2 versions prior to 15.1.12.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Endpoint Antivirus 6.0 versions prior to 9.0.2046.0; 6.0 versions prior to 8.1.2050.0; 6.0 versions prior to 8.0.2053.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Endpoint Security 6.0 versions prior to 9.0.2046.0; 6.0 versions prior to 8.1.2050.0; 6.0 versions prior to 8.0.2053.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Server Security for Microsoft Windows Server 8.0 versions prior to 9.0.12012.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET File Security for Microsoft Windows Server 8.0.12013.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server 6.0 versions prior to 8.0.10020.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Mail Security for IBM Domino 6.0 versions prior to 8.0.14011.0. ESET, spol. s r.o. ESET Security for Microsoft SharePoint Server 6.0 versions prior to 8.0.15009.0.

Affected products

ESET Endpoint Antivirus: from 6.0 before 8.0.2053.0; from 8.1 before 8.1.2050.0; from 9.0 before 9.0.2046.0 — fixed in 8.0.2053.0, 8.1.2050.0, 9.0.2046.0
ESET Endpoint Security: from 6.0 before 8.0.2053.0; from 8.1 before 8.1.2050.0; from 9.0 before 9.0.2046.0 — fixed in 8.0.2053.0, 8.1.2050.0, 9.0.2046.0
ESET File Security: from 6.0 before 8.0.12013.0 — fixed in 8.0.12013.0
ESET Internet Security: from 11.2 before 15.1.12.0 — fixed in 15.1.12.0
ESET Mail Security: from 6.0 before 8.0.10020.0; from 6.0 before 8.0.14011.0 — fixed in 8.0.10020.0, 8.0.14011.0
ESET Nod32 Antivirus: from 11.2 before 15.1.12.0 — fixed in 15.1.12.0
ESET Security: from 6.0 before 8.0.15009.0 — fixed in 8.0.15009.0
ESET Server Security: from 6.0; from 8.0 before 9.0.12012.0 — fixed in 9.0.12012.0
ESET Smart Security: from 11.2 before 15.1.12.0 — fixed in 15.1.12.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: ESET Endpoint Antivirus 8.0.2053.0, 8.1.2050.0, 9.0.2046.0; ESET Endpoint Security 8.0.2053.0, 8.1.2050.0, 9.0.2046.0; ESET File Security 8.0.12013.0; ESET Internet Security 15.1.12.0; ESET Mail Security 8.0.10020.0, 8.0.14011.0; ESET Nod32 Antivirus 15.1.12.0; ESET Security 8.0.15009.0; ESET Server Security 9.0.12012.0; ESET Smart Security 15.1.12.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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