CVE-2011-0688 in Symantec
Summary
by MITRE
Intel Alert Management System (aka AMS or AMS2), as used in Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition (SAVCE) 10.x before 10.1 MR10, Symantec System Center (SSC) 10.x, and Symantec Quarantine Server 3.5 and 3.6, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via crafted messages over TCP, as discovered by Junaid Bohio, a different vulnerability than CVE-2010-0110 and CVE-2010-0111. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2011-0688 represents a critical remote code execution flaw within Intel Alert Management System components that were integrated into various Symantec security products. This vulnerability specifically affects versions of Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition 10.x prior to 10.1 MR10, Symantec System Center 10.x, and Symantec Quarantine Server 3.5 and 3.6, creating a significant attack surface that could be exploited by remote threat actors. The flaw exists in how the system processes incoming messages over TCP connections, allowing attackers to craft malicious payloads that can be executed with the privileges of the affected service.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves improper input validation and sanitization within the Intel Alert Management System's message handling routines. When the affected systems receive crafted TCP messages, they fail to properly validate or sanitize the incoming data before processing it, creating a classic buffer overflow or injection vulnerability that can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution. This type of vulnerability is classified as CWE-77 and falls under the broader category of command injection flaws that are commonly exploited in network-based attacks. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the network level, allowing attackers to remotely execute commands without requiring local access to the system.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to enterprise security infrastructure as it enables attackers to gain unauthorized access to critical security management systems. The exploitation of CVE-2011-0688 could result in complete system compromise, allowing threat actors to execute malicious code, escalate privileges, and potentially establish persistent backdoors within the network. Organizations relying on these Symantec products would face significant exposure, as the vulnerability could be exploited to bypass security controls and gain access to sensitive data or disrupt critical operations. The attack vector being TCP-based means that exploitation could occur from anywhere on the network, making it particularly difficult to defend against and isolate.
The remediation strategy for this vulnerability requires immediate patching of all affected Symantec products to the latest available versions that contain security fixes for this specific flaw. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of affected systems to untrusted networks. Security teams should monitor for signs of exploitation attempts and consider implementing network-based intrusion detection systems to identify suspicious TCP traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, the vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and script interpreter, highlighting the importance of monitoring for suspicious command execution patterns within affected systems. Organizations should also conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any other potentially vulnerable systems that may be running older versions of the affected software components, as this vulnerability could be exploited to pivot within the network and compromise additional systems.