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Enterprise Security ManagerApplication · Symantec

CVE-2012-4350

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.0 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Multiple unquoted Windows search path vulnerabilities in the (1) Manager and (2) Agent components in Symantec Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) before 11.0 allow local users to gain privileges via unspecified vectors.

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

Unquoted Windows search path vulnerability in Symantec Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) before version 11.0 in both Manager and Agent components allows local privilege escalation. Attackers can place malicious executables in intermediate directories of unquoted service paths to achieve code execution with elevated privileges.

MitigationIdentify and quote all executable paths in Windows service configurations for ESM Manager and Agent services; remove any malicious executables from intermediate directories in the path; restart services to apply changes.

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
Enterprise Security ManagerApplication
Affected:<= 10.0= 6.0= 6.5= 6.5.0= 6.5.1= 6.5.2= 6.5.3= 9.0= 9.0.1

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
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/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 checks

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

  1. Verify Symantec ESM installation and version
    Check the installed version of Symantec Enterprise Security Manager by reviewing program files, registry keys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\ESM, or using 'wmic product where "name like 'Symantec Enterprise Security Manager'" get version'. Compare your version to the affected range (versions <= 10.0, including 6.0, 6.5.x, 9.0.x).
    Affected if The installed version is 10.0 or lower, or matches any of these: 6.0, 6.5, 6.5.0, 6.5.1, 6.5.2, 6.5.3, 9.0, 9.0.1.
  2. Identify ESM Manager and Agent Windows services
    Open Services console (services.msc) or run 'sc queryex type= service state= all' to list all services. Look for services with names containing 'ESM', 'Enterprise Security Manager', 'Symantec', or related terms such as 'SESM', 'SymantecESM', or similar naming patterns.
    Affected if Windows services associated with Symantec Enterprise Security Manager are present on the system.
  3. Check service binary paths for unquoted paths with spaces
    For each identified ESM service, run 'sc qc <service_name>' to view the binary path. Examine the path for spaces that are not enclosed in quotes. Example vulnerable format: C:\Program Files\Symantec\ESM\bin\Service.exe; fixed format: "C:\Program Files\Symantec\ESM\bin\Service.exe".
    Affected if The service binary path contains unquoted spaces (e.g., C:\Program Files\Symantec ESM\bin\service.exe without quotes).
  4. Inspect intermediate directories for unauthorized executables
    If an unquoted path exists, enumerate all executables in each directory between the drive letter and the service executable. For a path like C:\Program Files\Symantec ESM\bin\service.exe, check both C:\Program Files\ and C:\Program Files\Symantec ESM\ for any unexpected .exe files that could be injected.
    Affected if Unexpected or malicious executables are found in any intermediate directory within the unquoted service path.

The system is affected if Symantec ESM version 10.0 or lower is installed AND unquoted service paths exist for ESM Manager or Agent services with potential malicious executables in intermediate directories.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 10.0
Interim mitigation

Identify and quote all executable paths in Windows service configurations for ESM Manager and Agent services; remove any malicious executables from intermediate directories in the path; restart services to apply changes.

Fix this in Enterprise Security Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2012-4350 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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