Encryption Management ServerApplication · Symantec

CVE-2015-8149

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-02-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.3.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
The LDAP service in Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS) 3.3.2 before MP12 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap memory corruption and service outage) via crafted 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 · high confidence

The LDAP service in Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS) versions prior to MP12 contains a heap memory corruption vulnerability. Remote attackers can exploit this by sending specially crafted LDAP requests, causing heap memory corruption that leads to service outage and denial of service.

MitigationApply the vendor patch (MP12 or later) to SEMS 3.3.2 to remediate the heap corruption vulnerability in the LDAP service. Consider implementing LDAP service rate limiting or network segmentation as additional defensive measures until the patch is applied.

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
Encryption Management ServerApplication
Affected:<= 3.3.2

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 the installed SEMS version
    Access the Symantec Encryption Management Server admin console and navigate to Administration > System Health, or run 'sem -v' or 'productversion' from the server CLI if you have direct access
    Affected if The version displayed is 3.3.2 or earlier (any version prior to MP12)
  2. Verify if LDAP service is enabled
    In the SEMS admin console, go to Directory Services > LDAP Settings and confirm if LDAP directory integration is configured and enabled, or check if the LDAP service process is running on the server
    Affected if LDAP service is enabled and the server is running (the vulnerability only affects systems with LDAP service active)
  3. Check LDAP service network exposure
    Scan the SEMS server for open LDAP ports (TCP 389 for LDAP and TCP 636 for LDAPS) using a port scanner like nmap: 'nmap -p 389,636 <SEMS_IP>' or check local listening ports with 'netstat -an | grep -E ':(389|636)'
    Affected if LDAP ports 389/636 are listening and accessible from network (remote attackers require network access to send malicious LDAP requests)
  4. Confirm the patch level
    In the SEMS admin console, check Administration > Updates or the system information page for the maintenance pack version (MP12 or later indicates the patch is applied)
    Affected if The system shows a version prior to MP12 (e.g., MP11, MP10, or base 3.3.2)

Your environment is affected if the installed SEMS version is 3.3.2 or earlier AND the LDAP service is enabled and accessible, regardless of whether MP12 patch has been applied.

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 3.3.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch (MP12 or later) to SEMS 3.3.2 to remediate the heap corruption vulnerability in the LDAP service. Consider implementing LDAP service rate limiting or network segmentation as additional defensive measures until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Encryption Management Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2015-8149 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