CVE-2020-5831 in Endpoint Protection
Summary
by MITRE
Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager (SEPM), prior to 14.2 RU2 MP1, may be susceptible to an out of bounds vulnerability, which is a type of issue that results in an existing application reading memory outside of the bounds of the memory that had been allocated to the program.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/12/2020
Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager version 14.2 RU2 MP1 and earlier contains a critical out of bounds memory access vulnerability that represents a significant security risk to enterprise environments. This vulnerability stems from improper bounds checking within the application's memory management mechanisms, allowing an attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause application instability through carefully crafted inputs. The flaw exists in the software's handling of memory allocation and access operations, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's memory boundaries. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the core management functionality of Symantec's endpoint protection solution, which is widely deployed across enterprise networks for security policy enforcement and threat detection. This issue falls under the CWE-129 weakness category, which specifically addresses improper validation of array indices and other bounds checking failures that can lead to memory corruption vulnerabilities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple memory access violations as it can enable attackers to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive system resources. When exploited, the out of bounds memory read can potentially reveal sensitive information from adjacent memory locations, allowing attackers to extract credentials, configuration data, or other confidential information. The vulnerability may also allow for denial of service conditions where the application crashes or becomes unresponsive, disrupting critical security operations within the enterprise environment. Security researchers have identified that this flaw could be leveraged in conjunction with other attack vectors to establish persistent access to target systems, making it particularly dangerous in environments where SEPM serves as a central security management platform. The attack surface is broad as the vulnerability could be triggered through various interaction points including web-based management interfaces, API calls, or configuration file processing.
Organizations utilizing Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager should prioritize immediate remediation through the application of the vendor-provided patch that addresses this specific out of bounds memory access issue. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to SEPM version 14.2 RU2 MP1 or later, which includes proper bounds checking mechanisms and memory validation routines that prevent unauthorized memory access. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of the SEPM management interface to trusted networks only, reducing the attack surface available to potential adversaries. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, including unusual memory access patterns or unexpected application crashes. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any systems running vulnerable versions of SEPM and ensure proper patch management procedures are in place to prevent similar issues from occurring in other software components. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and memory management practices in enterprise security solutions, as highlighted by ATT&CK framework's focus on privilege escalation and defense evasion techniques that such flaws can enable.