CVE-2016-2202
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 Inventory Solution component in the Management Agent in the client in Symantec Altiris IT Management Suite (ITMS) through 7.6 HF7 allows local users to bypass intended application-blacklist restrictions 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 · moderate confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Symantec Altiris IT Management Suite where the Inventory Solution component in the Management Agent fails to properly enforce application-blacklist restrictions. A local user can bypass intended blacklist controls to run applications that should be blocked. The attack vector is unspecified in the available documentation.
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<= 7.6CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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 Altiris IT Management Suite installation and versionCheck the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Altiris\eXpress\Inventory or look for the Altiris Management Agent in Programs and Features. Version information is typically stored in the registry under the Altiris product keys or can be queried via the Altiris console under the Server Information section.Affected if Product is installed with version 7.6 or lower
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Verify Inventory Solution component is enabledOpen the Altiris console and navigate to Settings > Agent > Agent Settings. Look for the Inventory Solution component (Software Inventory, Hardware Inventory) under the installed plug-ins or agents for the managed device. Alternatively, check registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Altiris\Inventory Solution for component status.Affected if Inventory Solution component is installed and active in the Management Agent
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Confirm application blacklist is configuredIn the Altiris console, go to Settings > Inventory > Software Inventory Rules > Application Control or Blacklist. Check if any applications or file patterns are defined as blocked. The vulnerability allows bypassing these defined blacklist entries.Affected if Application blacklist rules are defined but may be bypassable by local users
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Check blacklist enforcement in Management AgentReview the Management Agent configuration file (AexAgentConfigurator.exe.config or similar) or the agent policies for application control settings. Look for the software inventory rules enforcement mechanism and verify if blacklist enforcement is properly applied to all user contexts.Affected if Blacklist enforcement can be circumvented by local users due to improper restriction in the Inventory Solution component
A system is affected if Altiris IT Management Suite version 7.6 or lower is installed with the Inventory Solution component enabled and application blacklist rules are configured, allowing a local user to bypass the blacklist controls.
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 dataApply the vendor patch for this vulnerability. Until patch is available, consider compensating controls such as restricting local user permissions or implementing additional application-control mechanisms at the OS level.
- 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-2016-2202 — 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-2016-2202 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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