Revisions
12/11/2012 – Clarification that SNAC issue is a client-side issue. Updated information concerning SNAC 12.1 not being activated unless an SNAC license is applied to the client.
12/14/2012 – Revising the SEPM/SPC PHP Script details and description base on additional analysis. Successful targeting requires the attacker to have authorized network access and have or have access to an active account on the management console. Added some recommended mitigations.
Severity
|
CVSS2
Base Score
|
Impact
|
Exploitability
|
CVSS2 Vector
|
|
SEPM/SPC PHP Script Insufficient Validation Remote Code Execution - High
|
|
7.2
|
10
|
4.1
|
AV:A/AC:L/AU:M/C:C/I:C/A:C
|
|
SNAC Unquoted search path local code execution - Medium
|
|
4.6
|
6.44
|
3.94
|
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
|
Overview
The management console in Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager (SEPM) and Symantec Protection Center (SPC) for SEP 12.0 Small Business Edition, contains PHP scripts that do not properly validate external input. This could potentially result in remote code execution.
Symantec Network Access Control (SNAC) contains an unquoted search path that could potentially permit local code execution and possible elevation of privilege.
Affected Products
|
SEPM PHP Script Insufficient Validation Remote Code Execution - High
|
|
Product
|
Version
|
Build
|
Solution(s)
|
|
Symantec Endpoint Protection(Management Console)
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11.0
|
All
|
Upgrade to SEP 11.0 RU7-MP3 SEP 12.1RU2
|
|
Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition(Management Console)
|
12.0
|
All
|
Upgrade to SEP12.1 RU2
|
|
Symantec Endpoint Protection(Management Console)
|
12.1
|
All
|
Upgrade to SEP 12.1 RU2
|
|
SNAC Unquoted path potential arbitrary execution
|
|
Symantec Network Access Control
|
12.1
|
All
|
Upgrade to SEP 12.1 RU2
|
NOTE: In SEP12.1, The SNAC service is set to manual unless/until an SNAC license is applied to the via the management server.
Products Not Affected By the SNAC Unquoted Path issue
|
Product
|
Version
|
|
Symantec Endpoint Protection
|
11.0
|
|
Symantec Network Access Control
|
11.0
|
Details
Symantec was notified of vulnerabilities in the PHP scripts in the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager (Symantec Protection Center for SEP 12.0 Small Business Edition). Insufficient validation is done on external input in these scripts. This could allow an authorized network user or an unauthorized individual who can gain access to the network to attempt to leverage this issue to elevate privileges on the SEPM/SPC server via the web-based management console. A successful attack requires access to an valid and active login on the console to attempt. There are two potential scenario for a successful exploitation.
1) One would require an authorized but limited privileged user with access to an active account on the management console. This user can execute unwarranted PHP commands via the browser if an authorized user session is available.
Or,
2) An unauthorized user, with network access or able to leverage network access, who can gain unauthorized access to an active SEPM login session for the management console. This user could leverage these PHP scripts to establish unauthorized access to or additional privileges on the targeted server.
There are suggestions provided below to minimize the existence of an active SEPM login session
Symantec Network Access Control, shipped as an optional add-on to Symantec Endpoint Protection, contains an unquoted search path that could allow a local user to execute arbitrary code. The local user would need to be able to place their executable in the root path to be executed during application startup.
In a recommended installation, the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager, or Symantec Protection Center, should be hosted behind the corporate firewall with restricted external access. Normal access to the system hosting SEPM or SPC should be restricted to privileged users as a security best practice. If it is necessary to deploy SEPM or SPC outside the corporate network, Symantec strongly recommends configuring client/server communication only and blocking all access to the management console.
Symantec Response
Symantec product engineers verified the reported issues and resolved these issues in the Symantec Endpoint Protection or Symantec Network Access Control releases identified above.
Update Information
Updates are available through customers’ normal support/download locations.
Mitigations
- • Do not leave logged in SEPM/SPC consoles unattended without logging out
- • SEPM/SPC have a default automatic logout after a one hour idle period. This can be adjusted in the SEPM “Site/Properties” for a much shorter timeout for SEP 11.x and SEP 12.1.x which is recommended
- • Provide only trusted/privileged individuals with SEPM/SPC accounts
Best Practices
As part of normal best practices, Symantec strongly recommends:
- • Restrict access to administration or management systems to privileged users.
- • Restrict remote access, if required, to trusted/authorized systems only.
- • Run under the principle of least privilege where possible to limit the impact of exploit by threats.
- • Keep all operating systems and applications updated with the latest vendor patches.
- • Follow a multi-layered approach to security. Run both firewall and anti-malware applications, at a minimum, to provide multiple points of detection and protection to both inbound and outbound threats.
- • Deploy network and host-based intrusion detection systems to monitor network traffic for signs of anomalous or suspicious activity. This may aid in detection of attacks or malicious activity related to exploitation of latent vulnerabilities
Credit
Symantec credits an anonymous contributor working with Beyond Security's SecuriTeam Secure Disclosure program for reporting the php script issues in Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager.
Symantec credits Gavin Jones with NCC Group Ltd for reporting the unquoted search path in Symantec Network Access Control
References
BID: Security Focus, http://www.securityfocus.com, has assigned Bugtraq IDs (BIDs) to these issues for inclusion in the Security Focus vulnerability database.
CVE: These issues are candidates for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for security problems.
|
CVE
|
BID
|
Description
|
|
CVE-2012-4348
|
BID 56846
|
SEPM PHP Script Validation Remote Code Execution
|
|
CVE-2012-4349
|
BID 56847
|
SNAC Unquoted search path local code execution
|
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