CVE-2018-5237
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 · uneditedSymantec Endpoint Protection prior to 14 RU1 MP1 or 12.1 RU6 MP10 could be susceptible to a privilege escalation vulnerability, which is a type of issue that allows a user to gain elevated access to resources that are normally protected at lower access levels.
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 privilege escalation vulnerability in Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) that allows authenticated users to gain elevated access to protected system resources. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to 14 RU1 MP1 or 12.1 RU6 MP10, potentially allowing a local attacker to escalate privileges on the affected system.
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<= 14.0= 12.1= 14.0CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify SEP installationCheck for Symantec Endpoint Protection by searching for the SMC service in Windows Services (services.msc), looking for 'Symantec Endpoint Protection' service, or checking registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMCAffected if If the SMC service or registry key is not present, SEP is not installed and the system is not affected
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Identify installed SEP versionOpen Windows Registry and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC\ProductVersion, or run the command 'smc -version' in an administrative command promptAffected if If version reads 14.0 or lower, or 12.1, proceed to confirm the exact RU build number
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Confirm RU build numberCheck registry value at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\CurrentVersion for the Build Number, or use 'smc -help' which displays full version information including RU levelAffected if If the version is earlier than 14 RU1 MP1 (build 14.0.1) or earlier than 12.1 RU6 MP10 (build 12.1.6), the system is vulnerable
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Check for local authenticated usersReview system user accounts in Computer Management > Local Users and Groups, or run 'net user' command to list local accountsAffected if If any local authenticated (non-admin) user accounts exist on the system, the privilege escalation condition can be triggered
A system is affected if it runs SEP versions below 14 RU1 MP1 or 12.1 RU6 MP10 and has authenticated local user accounts present.
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 dataUpgrade Symantec Endpoint Protection to version 14 RU1 MP1 or later, or version 12.1 RU6 MP10 or later, to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5237 — 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-2018-5237 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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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.
- 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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