Norton SecurityApplication · Symantec

CVE-2016-3645

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-06-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2016.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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
Integer overflow in the TNEF unpacker in the AntiVirus Decomposer engine in Symantec Advanced Threat Protection (ATP); Symantec Data Center Security:Server (SDCS:S) 6.x through 6.6 MP1; Symantec Web Gateway; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) before 12.1 RU6 MP5; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for Mac; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for Linux before 12.1 RU6 MP5; Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) before 7.0.5 HF01, 7.5.x before 7.5.3 HF03, 7.5.4 before HF01, and 7.8.0 before HF01; Symantec Protection for SharePoint Servers (SPSS) 6.0.3 through 6.0.5 before 6.0.5 HF 1.5 and 6.0.6 before HF 1.6; Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) before 7.0_3966002 HF1.1 and 7.5.x before 7.5_3966008 VHF1.2; Symantec Mail Security for Domino (SMSDOM) before 8.0.9 HF1.1 and 8.1.x before 8.1.3 HF1.2; CSAPI before 10.0.4 HF01; Symantec Message Gateway (SMG) before 10.6.1-4; Symantec Message Gateway for Service Providers (SMG-SP) 10.5 before patch 254 and 10.6 before patch 253; Norton AntiVirus, Norton Security, Norton Internet Security, and Norton 360 before NGC 22.7; Norton Security for Mac before 13.0.2; Norton Power Eraser (NPE) before 5.1; and Norton Bootable Removal Tool (NBRT) before 2016.1 allows remote attackers to have an unspecified impact via crafted TNEF data.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-189

A legacy NVD category grouping numeric mistakes — overflows, truncation, sign errors — where a miscalculated value goes on to drive a dangerous decision such as a memory allocation or a bounds check. It is a bucket rather than one specific bug. Remediation is checked arithmetic and validating any computed size or index before it is used.

General guidance for the numeric errors class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Norton SecurityApplication
Affected:<= 13.0.1all versions
Protection EngineApplication
Affected:>= 7.0.0, <= 7.0.5>= 7.5.0, <= 7.5.4= 7.8.0
Advanced Threat ProtectionApplication
Affected:<= 2.0.3
Norton Bootable Removal ToolApplication
Affected:<= 2016.0
Data Center Security ServerApplication
Affected:= 6.0= 6.5= 6.6
Protection For Sharepoint ServersApplication
Affected:>= 6.0, <= 6.0.6>= 6.03, <= 6.05
Message Gateway For Service ProvidersApplication
Affected:= 10.5= 10.6
CsapiApplication
Affected:<= 10.0.4

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2016.0
Recommended fix High confidence

Product-specific: Norton products upgrade to 22.7 (Windows), 13.0.2 (Mac), 2016.1 (NBRT), 5.1 (NPE); SPE upgrade beyond 7.8.0 with applicable HF; SPSS upgrade beyond 6.0.6 with applicable HF; CSAPI upgrade beyond 10.0.4 with HF01; SMG upgrade to 10.6.1-4 or later

  1. For Norton Security (Windows): Upgrade to version 22.7 or later (NGC 22.7)
  2. For Norton Security for Mac: Upgrade to version 13.0.2 or later
  3. For Norton Bootable Removal Tool (NBRT): Upgrade to version 2016.1 or later
  4. For Norton Power Eraser (NPE): Upgrade to version 5.1 or later
  5. For Symantec Protection Engine (SPE): Apply hotfix HF01 for version 7.0.5, HF03 for 7.5.3, HF01 for 7.5.4, or HF01 for 7.8.0; or upgrade to a version beyond 7.8.0
  6. For Symantec Protection for SharePoint Servers (SPSS): Apply hotfix HF1.5 for version 6.0.5, or HF1.6 for version 6.0.6; or upgrade beyond 6.0.6
  7. For CSAPI: Apply hotfix HF01 for version 10.0.4 or upgrade beyond 10.0.4
  8. For Symantec Message Gateway (SMG): Upgrade to version 10.6.1-4 or later
Caveat Hotfixes and patches are low-risk; ensure appropriate testing in non-production environment before deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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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-2016-3645 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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