CVE-2016-6590
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 · uneditedA privilege escalation vulnerability exists when loading DLLs during boot up and reboot in Symantec IT Management Suite 8.0 prior to 8.0 HF4 and Suite 7.6 prior to 7.6 HF7, Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 3.1 prior to 3.1 MP4, Symantec Endpoint Virtualization 7.x prior to 7.6 HF7, and Symantec Encryption Desktop 10.x prior to 10.4.1, which could let a local malicious user execute arbitrary code.
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 confidenceThis is a DLL hijacking vulnerability during boot/reboot in multiple Symantec products. The affected software loads DLLs from locations where a local attacker can place a malicious DLL, achieving arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.
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>= 10.0.0, < 10.4.1>= 7.0, < 7.6= 7.6= 3.1= 7.6= 8.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Symantec productOpen Windows Control Panel, go to Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | DisplayName' to list installed software. Look for Symantec Encryption Desktop, Symantec Endpoint Encryption, Symantec Ghost Solution Suite, or Symantec IT Management Suite.Affected if Any of these four affected products are listed as installed
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Check Symantec Encryption Desktop versionIf installed, locate the application in Programs and Features to view the version, or check the application's About/Help section for the version number.Affected if Version is 10.0.0 or higher but lower than 10.4.1
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Check Symantec Endpoint Encryption versionIf installed, locate the application in Programs and Features to view the version, or check the application's About/Help section for the version number.Affected if Version is 7.0 or higher through 7.6 (any version in this range)
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Check Symantec Ghost Solution Suite versionIf installed, locate the application in Programs and Features to view the version, or check the application's About/Help section for the version number.Affected if Version is exactly 3.1
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Check Symantec IT Management Suite versionIf installed, locate the application in Programs and Features to view the version, or check the application's About/Help section for the version number.Affected if Version is exactly 7.6 or exactly 8.0
A system is affected if any of the four listed Symantec products is installed and its version matches the specific vulnerable version range for that product.
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 data7.610.4.1
Apply the vendor-supplied hotfixes: IT Management Suite 8.0 to HF4, Suite 7.6 to HF7, Ghost Solution Suite 3.1 to MP4, Endpoint Virtualization 7.x to HF7, and Encryption Desktop to version 10.4.1.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,472.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6590 — 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-2016-6590 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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