Norton AntivirusApplication · Symantec

CVE-2002-2206

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2002-12-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The POP3 proxy service (POPROXY.EXE) in Norton AntiVirus 2001 allows local users to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption and crash) via a long username with multiple /localhost entries.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The POP3 proxy service (POPROXY.EXE) in Norton AntiVirus 2001 contains a denial of service vulnerability where a local user can send a specially crafted long username containing multiple /localhost entries, causing excessive CPU consumption and eventual service crash.

MitigationSince Norton AntiVirus 2001 is end-of-life legacy software, the recommended remediation is to disable or remove the POP3 proxy (POPROXY.EXE) service. If the software is still in use, consider upgrading to a supported antivirus solution or applying any available vendor patches.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Norton AntivirusApplication
Affected:= 2001

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Norton AntiVirus 2001 is installed
    Check the installed programs list or look for Norton AntiVirus installation directories. On Windows, check Add/Remove Programs or the program files directory for Norton AntiVirus 2001.
    Affected if Norton AntiVirus 2001 is present on the system
  2. Locate POPROXY.EXE
    Search for the file POPROXY.EXE in the Norton AntiVirus installation directory, typically found in the program folder where Norton is installed.
    Affected if POPROXY.EXE exists on the system
  3. Check if POP3 proxy service is running
    Open Task Manager or use the command 'tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq POPROXY.EXE"' to see if the POP3 proxy service is currently running.
    Affected if POPROXY.EXE process is actively running
  4. Confirm product version is 2001
    Right-click on the Norton AntiVirus executable or access the About section in the program to verify the exact version number matches 2001.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly Norton AntiVirus 2001

A system is affected if Norton AntiVirus 2001 is installed, POPROXY.EXE exists, and the POP3 proxy service is running, exposing it to the denial of service vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Since Norton AntiVirus 2001 is end-of-life legacy software, the recommended remediation is to disable or remove the POP3 proxy (POPROXY.EXE) service. If the software is still in use, consider upgrading to a supported antivirus solution or applying any available vendor patches.

Fix this in Norton Antivirus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,456.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-2206 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2002-2206 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data