Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition Local Elevation of Privilege

Remote Access	No
Local Access	Yes
Authentication Required	Yes
Exploit available	No

Overview
A notification window displayed by Symantec’s Real-Time protection service could be exploited by a local user to gain elevated privileges on the local system.

Affected Products

Product	Affected Version*	Solution
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition	9.0	SAV 9.0.6 MR6 MP1- build 1100 or later http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/all_products.jsp
	10.0	10.1.4 MR4 MP1- build 4010 or later http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/all_products.jsp
	10.1
Symantec Client Security	2.0	SCS 2.0.6 MR6 MP1 - build 1100 or later http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/all_products.jsp
	3.0	SCS 3.1.4 MR4 MP1 - build 4010 or later http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/all_products.jsp
	3.1

Note: *All versions and builds prior to the version listed under Solution are affected.
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 10.0 (SAV CE) users can obtain this update by migrating to SAV CE 10.1MR4 MP1 or later. Symantec Client Security (SCS) 3.0 users can obtain the update by migrating to SCS 3.1 MR4 MP1 or later. Symantec Platinum Support customers can also download updates from the Platinum Web site.

Unaffected Products

Product	Version
Norton Product line	All
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition	10.2, all builds
Symantec AntiVirus for Linux	All

Details
The Real-Time scanner (RTVScan) component of Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition provides notification and logging services for the product. One function of RTVScan is to display a notification window with information about a threat found on the system, if the program is configured to use that option. Ali Rahbar notified Symantec that an unprivileged user could potentially attack this window with specially crafted code, and gain SYSTEM level privileges on their local system. The user could then run code of their choice on their local system.

Symantec response
Symantec engineers have verified that the issue exists in the versions of Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition listed in the table above. Our investigation showed that the potential attack is limited to the local user, and that the elevation of privilege is limited to the user’s own system.
Symantec is not aware of any customers impacted by this issue, or of any attempts to exploit the issue.
As a part of normal best practices, users should keep vendor-supplied patches for all application software and operating systems up-to-date. Symantec recommends any affected customers update their product immediately to protect against potential attempts to exploit this issue.

Mitigation
In a managed environment, administrators can disable Notification Message (alert) window, and lock the notification option to prevent users from re-enabling the Notification Message window.

Best Practice
Symantec recommends any affected customers update their product to protect against potential attempts to exploit this issue. As part of normal best practices, Symantec recommends the following:

Credit
Symantec would like to thank Ali Rahbar of Sysdream (http://www.sysdream.com) for reporting this issue.

References
This issue is a candidate for inclusion in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for security problems. A CVE identifier has been requested for this vulnerability.
SecurityFocus (http://www.securityfocus.com) has assigned Bugtraq ID (BID) 24810 to this issue.

Symantec takes the security and proper functionality of its products very seriously. As founding members of the Organization for Internet Safety (OISafety), Symantec follows the principles of responsible disclosure. Symantec also subscribes to the vulnerability guidelines outlined by the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC). Please contact secure@symantec.com if you feel you have discovered a potential or actual security issue with a Symantec product. A Symantec Product Security team member will contact you regarding your submission.

Symantec has developed a Product Vulnerability Handling Process document outlining the process we follow in addressing suspected vulnerabilities in our products. We support responsible disclosure of all vulnerability information in a timely manner to protect Symantec customers and the security of the Internet as a result of vulnerability. This document is available from the location provided below.

Symantec strongly recommends using encrypted email for reporting vulnerability information to secure@symantec.com. The Symantec Product Security PGP key can be obtained from the location provided below.

Symantec Vulnerability Response Policy

Symantec Product Vulnerability Management PGP Key

Copyright (c) 2008 by Symantec Corp.
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Disclaimer
The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, this information.

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