CVE-2016-2207 in Endpoint Protection
Summary
by MITRE
The AntiVirus Decomposer engine in Symantec Advanced Threat Protection (ATP); Symantec Data Center Security:Server (SDCS:S) 6.x through 6.6 MP1; Symantec Web Gateway; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) before 12.1 RU6 MP5; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for Mac; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for Linux before 12.1 RU6 MP5; Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) before 7.0.5 HF01, 7.5.x before 7.5.3 HF03, 7.5.4 before HF01, and 7.8.0 before HF01; Symantec Protection for SharePoint Servers (SPSS) 6.0.3 through 6.0.5 before 6.0.5 HF 1.5 and 6.0.6 before HF 1.6; Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) before 7.0_3966002 HF1.1 and 7.5.x before 7.5_3966008 VHF1.2; Symantec Mail Security for Domino (SMSDOM) before 8.0.9 HF1.1 and 8.1.x before 8.1.3 HF1.2; CSAPI before 10.0.4 HF01; Symantec Message Gateway (SMG) before 10.6.1-4; Symantec Message Gateway for Service Providers (SMG-SP) 10.5 before patch 254 and 10.6 before patch 253; Norton AntiVirus, Norton Security, Norton Internet Security, and Norton 360 before NGC 22.7; Norton Security for Mac before 13.0.2; Norton Power Eraser (NPE) before 5.1; and Norton Bootable Removal Tool (NBRT) before 2016.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory access violation) via a crafted RAR file that is mishandled during decompression.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/06/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2016-2207 represents a critical memory access violation flaw within the AntiVirus Decomposer engine of numerous Symantec security products. This issue stems from improper handling of crafted RAR archive files during the decompression process, creating a pathway for remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or induce denial of service conditions. The vulnerability affects a broad spectrum of Symantec products including Advanced Threat Protection, Data Center Security Server, Web Gateway, Endpoint Protection across multiple platforms, Protection Engine versions, SharePoint Security, Mail Security solutions, Message Gateway systems, and various Norton security products. The flaw demonstrates the inherent risks associated with archive processing components in security software, where decompression operations can become attack vectors when inadequate input validation and memory management practices are employed.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs when the AntiVirus Decomposer engine processes maliciously crafted RAR files that contain malformed or specially constructed archive entries. During the decompression phase, the engine fails to properly validate the structure and content of these archives, leading to memory access violations that can be exploited to gain unauthorized code execution privileges. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions, and CWE-787, which covers out-of-bounds write operations. The memory corruption resulting from improper decompression handling creates opportunities for attackers to manipulate program execution flow through buffer overflows or memory corruption techniques that can be leveraged to achieve arbitrary code execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across enterprise security infrastructure, as the affected products are widely deployed in corporate environments for endpoint protection, email security, web filtering, and threat detection. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability remotely to compromise systems running these security products, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive data or establishing persistent footholds within network environments. The vulnerability's presence in multiple Symantec products creates widespread exposure, as organizations may have various security solutions from the same vendor running on different systems. This scenario increases the attack surface significantly, as a single vulnerability can potentially affect multiple security layers within an organization's defense infrastructure. The denial of service aspect of this vulnerability could also be exploited to disrupt security operations, causing legitimate security services to fail and leaving systems exposed to other threats.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-2207 require immediate patching of all affected Symantec products to the vendor-released security updates. Organizations should prioritize updating their endpoint protection systems, email security appliances, and web filtering solutions to address this vulnerability. System administrators should implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts, as the vulnerability may be used in targeted attacks against specific organizations. The implementation of additional security controls including email filtering rules, web content filtering policies, and network-based intrusion detection systems can provide defense-in-depth measures. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting and sandboxing techniques to reduce the impact of potential exploitation. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would align with techniques such as T1059 for command and script interpreter and T1499 for endpoint denial of service, highlighting the need for comprehensive defensive measures across multiple attack surface areas. Regular vulnerability assessments and security audits should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other security products and ensure comprehensive protection against similar memory corruption vulnerabilities.