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Norton AntivirusApplication · Symantec

CVE-2007-5829

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-11-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Disk Mount scanner in Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh 9.x and 10.x, Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 10.0 and 10.1, and Norton Internet Security for Macintosh 3.x, uses a directory with weak permissions (group writable), which allows local admin users to gain root privileges by replacing unspecified files, which are executed when a user with physical access inserts a disk and the "Show Progress During Mount Scans" option is enabled.

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 confidence

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in legacy Symantec/Norton products for Macintosh. The Disk Mount scanner creates or uses a directory with weak permissions (group writable), allowing a local admin user to replace files in that directory. When a user with physical access inserts a disk and the 'Show Progress During Mount Scans' option is enabled, the replaced files execute with elevated (root) privileges.

MitigationRemove group-write permissions from the directory used by the Disk Mount scanner (path unspecified in advisory), disable the 'Show Progress During Mount Scans' option, or upgrade to a patched version if available. Since these are legacy 2007 products, consider migrating to supported security solutions.

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:= 9.0= 9.0.1= 9.0.2= 9.0.3= 10.0= 10.1
Norton Internet SecurityApplication
Affected:= 3.0

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
Local
Complexity
High
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:H/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Symantec/Norton product
    Check /Applications folder for Norton Antivirus, Norton Internet Security, or similar Symantec utilities. Run 'ls -la /Applications | grep -i norton' to list installed Norton applications.
    Affected if Any of the following versions are installed: Norton Antivirus 9.0, 9.0.1, 9.0.2, 9.0.3, 10.0, 10.1, or Norton Internet Security 3.0.
  2. Locate Norton preferences file
    Look for Norton configuration files in /Library/Preferences or ~/Library/Preferences. Common files include 'com.symantec.*.plist' or similar naming conventions. Use 'find /Library/Preferences -name "*symantec*" -o -name "*norton*"' to locate relevant preference files.
    Affected if The preferences file exists and contains settings for the Disk Mount scanner feature.
  3. Check 'Show Progress During Mount Scans' setting
    Open the Norton application preferences or examine the plist file for a setting related to 'ShowProgressDuringMountScans' or similar. On Mac, use 'defaults read' on the preference file if found.
    Affected if The option 'Show Progress During Mount Scans' (or equivalent) is enabled (set to true/1).
  4. Identify Disk Mount scanner working directory
    Search for directories created by Norton in common locations such as /tmp, /var/tmp, or the user's home directory that may be used during mount scans. Run 'ls -la /tmp | grep -i norton' and check other temporary directories.
    Affected if A directory used by the Disk Mount scanner exists with group-write permissions (permissions show 'g+w' or equivalent).

A user is affected if they have a vulnerable Norton version installed (9.0-10.1 for Antivirus, 3.0 for Internet Security), the 'Show Progress During Mount Scans' option is enabled, and a group-writable directory exists that could be exploited for privilege escalation.

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

Remove group-write permissions from the directory used by the Disk Mount scanner (path unspecified in advisory), disable the 'Show Progress During Mount Scans' option, or upgrade to a patched version if available. Since these are legacy 2007 products, consider migrating to supported security solutions.

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
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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-2007-5829 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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