CVE-2013-5009
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 Endpoint Protection (SEP) 11.x before 11.0.7.4 and 12.x before 12.1.2 RU2 and Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition 12.x before 12.1.2 RU2 does not properly perform authentication, which allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges by leveraging access to a limited-admin account.
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 confidenceThe Management Console in Symantec Endpoint Protection contains an authentication flaw that allows remote authenticated users with limited-admin privileges to escalate to higher privileges by exploiting improper authentication handling in versions 11.x before 11.0.7.4 and 12.x before 12.1.2 RU2.
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<= 11.0.7.3= 11.0= 11.0.1= 11.0.2= 11.0.4= 11.0.3001= 11.0.6000= 11.0.6100= 11.0.6200= 11.0.6200.754= 11.0.6300= 11.0.7000CVSS 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:A/AC:M/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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Confirm Symantec Endpoint Protection is installedCheck for the presence of Symantec Endpoint Protection by looking for the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection) or check Windows Programs and Features for 'Symantec Endpoint Protection'Affected if The software is not found, then this CVE does not apply
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Identify the installed versionOpen the Management Console and view the About information, or check the version in Windows Programs and Features, or look at the version info in the installation directoryAffected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: any 11.x version before 11.0.7.4, or any 12.x version before 12.1.2 RU2, or specifically any of these versions: 11.0, 11.0.1, 11.0.2, 11.0.4, 11.0.3001, 11.0.6000, 11.0.6100, 11.0.6200, 11.0.6200.754, 11.0.6300, 11.0.7000
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Verify Management Console is accessibleConfirm the Management Console web interface is enabled and reachable (default ports 8443 or 8090), or confirm the local console application is in useAffected if The Management Console is not accessible, the vulnerability cannot be exploited even on a vulnerable version
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Confirm authenticated access with limited-admin privileges existsReview user accounts configured in Symantec Endpoint Protection and identify any accounts granted limited-admin rather than full administrator privilegesAffected if Only full administrator accounts exist without any limited-admin accounts, the specific privilege escalation vector may not be applicable
You are affected if Symantec Endpoint Protection is installed with a version in the 11.x series before 11.0.7.4 or in the 12.x series before 12.1.2 RU2, and the Management Console is accessible to users with limited-admin privileges.
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 dataUpgrade Symantec Endpoint Protection to version 11.0.7.4 or later, or 12.1.2 RU2 or later to remediate the authentication bypass vulnerability.
- 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-2013-5009 — 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-2013-5009 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
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