CVE-2020-5823 in Endpoint Protection
Summary
by MITRE
Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) and Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition (SEP SBE), prior to 14.2 RU2 MP1 and prior to 14.2.5569.2100 respectively, may be susceptible to a privilege escalation vulnerability, which is a type of issue whereby an attacker may attempt to compromise the software application to gain elevated access to resources that are normally protected from an application or user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/12/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-5823 affects Symantec Endpoint Protection and Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition products, representing a critical privilege escalation flaw that undermines the security model of these widely deployed endpoint protection solutions. This vulnerability exists in versions prior to 14.2 RU2 MP1 for standard SEP and 14.2.5569.2100 for SEP SBE, indicating that the flaw has persisted across multiple release cycles and affects organizations relying on these security platforms for their endpoint protection needs. The issue fundamentally compromises the principle of least privilege that security applications are designed to enforce, creating a potential pathway for attackers to elevate their privileges within compromised systems.
The technical nature of this privilege escalation vulnerability stems from inadequate access controls and privilege management within the Symantec Endpoint Protection software architecture. Attackers exploiting this flaw could potentially manipulate the application's permission model to gain elevated privileges that should normally be restricted to system administrators or the software itself. This type of vulnerability typically arises from improper validation of user permissions, insufficient privilege checks during critical operations, or flawed implementation of security contexts within the application's execution environment. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-276, which specifically addresses improper privilege management in software applications, making it particularly dangerous in endpoint protection contexts where the software typically operates with elevated privileges to perform security functions.
The operational impact of CVE-2020-5823 extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally undermines the trust model that organizations place in their endpoint protection solutions. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can potentially gain administrative access to protected system resources, allowing for complete system compromise and lateral movement throughout the network. This is particularly concerning given that Symantec Endpoint Protection is deployed across numerous enterprise environments and is often considered a cornerstone of endpoint security infrastructure. The vulnerability creates a persistent backdoor that could remain undetected for extended periods, as the elevated privileges would be indistinguishable from legitimate administrative access, making it difficult for security monitoring systems to identify malicious activity.
Organizations utilizing affected versions of Symantec Endpoint Protection should immediately implement mitigation strategies focusing on both immediate patching and enhanced monitoring of privileged access activities. The recommended approach involves deploying the vendor-supplied patches for versions 14.2 RU2 MP1 and 14.2.5569.2100 respectively, which address the underlying privilege escalation mechanisms. Security teams should also implement enhanced monitoring for unusual privilege escalation events, particularly focusing on processes running with elevated privileges that are not typically associated with standard endpoint protection operations. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under privilege escalation techniques, specifically targeting the T1068 technique related to "Exploitation for Privilege Escalation," making it a high-priority target for both defensive and offensive security teams. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and implement network segmentation to limit the lateral movement capabilities of any compromised systems.