CVE-2007-4620
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 · uneditedMultiple stack-based buffer overflows in Computer Associates (CA) Alert Notification Service (Alert.exe) 8.1.586.0, 8.0.450.0, and 7.1.758.0, as used in multiple CA products including Anti-Virus for the Enterprise 7.1 through r11.1 and Threat Manager for the Enterprise 8.1 and r8, allow remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary code via crafted RPC requests.
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 · moderate confidenceStack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities in CA Alert Notification Service (Alert.exe) allow remote authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted RPC requests. The vulnerability affects versions 7.1.758.0, 8.0.450.0, and 8.1.586.0 used in Anti-Virus for the Enterprise and Threat Manager for the Enterprise products. While exploitation requires valid authentication, the CVSS score of 9 indicates trivial exploitability once credentials are obtained.
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= 7.1= 8= 8.1= 11.1= 11.5= 11= r8= r8.1CVSS 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
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate the Alert Notification Service executableSearch for Alert.exe in the installation directories of CA/Broadcom security products (typically under the product's bin or server folder). Use 'dir /s /b C:\Alert.exe' or 'find / -name Alert.exe' depending on OS.Affected if Alert.exe is present and matches one of the affected product versions (7.1, 8, 8.1, 11, 11.1, 11.5, r8, r8.1)
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Determine the installed product versionCheck the product version via the software's About dialog, readme files, or check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\ComputerAssociates for the installed product name and version.Affected if The installed product is Broadcom Anti Virus for the Enterprise (versions 7.1, 8, or 8.1), Brightstor Arcserve Backup (11, 11.1, 11.5), or Threat Manager for the Enterprise (r8 or r8.1)
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Verify Alert.exe version numberRight-click Alert.exe, select Properties, then Details tab to view the File Version. Compare against known affected versions: 7.1.758.0, 8.0.450.0, 8.1.586.0.Affected if The Alert.exe version matches 7.1.758.0, 8.0.450.0, or 8.1.586.0 exactly
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Confirm if the Alert Notification Service is runningOpen Services console (services.msc) and look for 'CA Alert Notification Service' or 'CA Security Alert Service', or run 'sc query' to list running services.Affected if The Alert Notification Service is installed and running - exploitation requires this service to be active to receive malicious RPC requests
Your environment is affected if Alert.exe (version 7.1.758.0, 8.0.450.0, or 8.1.5860) is present and the Alert Notification Service is running on a vulnerable CA/Broadcom product version (7.1, 8, 8.1, 11, 11.1, 11.5, r8, r8.1).
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply CA security updates/patches for the affected Alert Notification Service versions. If patches are unavailable, disable the Alert Notification Service or implement strict network segmentation to limit RPC access to authenticated, trusted users only.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-4620 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-4620 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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