CVE-2012-2953
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 · uneditedThe management console in Symantec Web Gateway 5.0.x before 5.0.3.18 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via crafted input to application scripts.
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 confidenceSymantec Web Gateway versions 5.0.x prior to 5.0.3.18 contain a command injection vulnerability in the management console. Attackers can execute arbitrary operating system commands by sending specially crafted input to application scripts, likely through unsanitized user-supplied parameters.
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= 5.0= 5.0.1= 5.0.2= 5.0.3CVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/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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Verify Symantec Web Gateway is installedLocate the Symantec Web Gateway installation by checking for the application in your system inventory, or by accessing the management console URL typically at https://your-server:443/swg/Affected if Symantec Web Gateway is not found in your environment, you are not affected
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Check installed versionAccess the management console and navigate to the About or Version section, or check the installation directory for version filesAffected if The installed version is 5.0.3.17 or earlier, or any 5.0.x version prior to 5.0.3.18, you are affected
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Confirm management console is accessibleAttempt to reach the management console login page via HTTP/HTTPS on the configured portAffected if The management console is exposed and the version is 5.0.x prior to 5.0.3.18, you are affected
You are affected if Symantec Web Gateway version 5.0.x (including 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, or 5.0.3) is installed with the management console accessible, regardless of whether you can reproduce the command injection.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply vendor patch by upgrading to Symantec Web Gateway 5.0.3.18 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the management console to trusted IPs only.
Symantec Web Gateway 5.0.3.18 or later
- Back up the current Symantec Web Gateway configuration and data before initiating any upgrade
- Review Symantec's official upgrade documentation for Web Gateway 5.0.x
- Download the fixed release (5.0.3.18 or later) from Symantec's official support portal
- Schedule a maintenance window to minimize operational impact
- Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
- Execute the upgrade following Symantec's documented upgrade procedure
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version number in the management console
- Validate that the management console is functional and the vulnerability is resolved
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-2953 — 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-2012-2953 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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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.
- 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