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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
Message GatewayApplication · Symantec

CVE-2017-6327

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-08-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.6.3-267 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit Remotely reachable 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 Symantec Messaging Gateway before 10.6.3-267 can encounter an issue of remote code execution, which describes a situation whereby an individual may obtain the ability to execute commands remotely on a target machine or in a target process. In this type of occurrence, after gaining access to the system, the attacker may attempt to elevate their privileges.

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

Symantec Messaging Gateway versions prior to 10.6.3-267 contain a remote code execution vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the affected system. This critical flaw in the email security gateway software enables attackers to gain initial access and potentially escalate privileges.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch by upgrading Symantec Messaging Gateway to version 10.6.3-267 or later. Prior to deployment in production, test the upgrade in a non-production environment to ensure compatibility with existing email flows and configurations.

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
Message GatewayApplication
Affected:< 10.6.3-267

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Symantec Messaging Gateway is installed
    Locate the SMG installation directory or check system services for 'Symantec Messaging Gateway' or 'smg' services. On Linux, check for /opt/Symantec/smg/ or similar paths. On Windows, check Program Files for Symantec folders.
    Affected if The product is not installed or cannot be located.
  2. Determine the installed version
    Access the SMG admin web interface (typically https://hostname:8443) and navigate to Home > About or Administration > System Health. Alternatively, check version files in the installation directory or run: grep -r 'version' /opt/Symantec/smg/ 2>/dev/null
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or the installation is corrupted.
  3. Compare version against vulnerable range
    If version is found, compare it to the affected range: versions below 10.6.3-267 are vulnerable. Version 10.6.3-267 and later are patched.
    Affected if Installed version is less than 10.6.3-267.
  4. Confirm authentication is enabled (required for exploit)
    Check SMG admin interface settings under Administration > Users or Administration > Access to verify local or remote authentication is configured. The vulnerability requires an authenticated attacker.
    Affected if Authentication is disabled and no remote admin accounts exist (reduces exploitability but version still vulnerable).

You are affected if Symantec Messaging Gateway is installed and the running version is below 10.6.3-267, regardless of whether admin authentication is in use since the flaw requires authenticated access.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.6.3-267 or later
Fixed in 10.6.3-267
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patch by upgrading Symantec Messaging Gateway to version 10.6.3-267 or later. Prior to deployment in production, test the upgrade in a non-production environment to ensure compatibility with existing email flows and configurations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Symantec Messaging Gateway 10.6.3-267 or later

  1. 1. Back up the current Symantec Messaging Gateway configuration and any custom settings
  2. 2. Review the Symantec Messaging Gateway upgrade documentation for version 10.6.3-267
  3. 3. Ensure the backup system is functional and test restoration procedures
  4. 4. Schedule a maintenance window to minimize business impact
  5. 5. Download the Symantec Messaging Gateway 10.6.3-267 or later version from the official Broadcom/Symantec portal
  6. 6. Apply the upgrade following the vendor's documented upgrade procedure
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify theSMG web interface is accessible and all services are running
  8. 8. Confirm the version number reflects 10.6.3-267 or later in the web interface or CLI
Caveat Review vendor release notes for potential configuration or compatibility changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Message Gateway Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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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-2017-6327 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