Endpoint Protection ManagerApplication · Symantec

CVE-2020-5835

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-05-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.3 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager, prior to 14.3, has a race condition in client remote deployment which may result in an elevation of privilege on the remote machine.

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 confidence

Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager versions prior to 14.3 contain a race condition vulnerability in the client remote deployment feature. An attacker with network access to the management server could exploit this timing vulnerability during the deployment process to achieve elevation of privileges on target machines.

MitigationUpgrade Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager to version 14.3 or later to address this vulnerability.

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
Endpoint Protection ManagerApplication
Affected:< 14.3

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 Endpoint Protection Manager is installed
    Check for the presence of Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager on the system, typically found in Program Files or Program Files (x86) directories under Symantec or Broadcom
    Affected if The product is installed and the version is below 14.3
  2. Determine the installed version of Endpoint Protection Manager
    Use the product's built-in version check mechanism or look in the About section of the management console; compare your installed version against the affected range of versions prior to 14.3
    Affected if The installed version number is less than 14.3 (for example, 14.2.x, 14.1.x, or earlier)
  3. Confirm the client remote deployment feature is configured
    Access the management console and review the client deployment settings or remote installation settings to determine if the remote deployment feature is enabled
    Affected if The remote deployment feature is actively configured or enabled in the management server settings
  4. Assess network accessibility to the management server
    Review network exposure of the management server port (typically port 8443 or 443 for the console) and determine if untrusted network access is possible
    Affected if The management server is accessible from untrusted networks and the remote deployment feature is enabled

You are affected if Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager is installed with a version prior to 14.3 AND the client remote deployment feature is enabled AND the management server is network-accessible to potential attackers.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 14.3 or later
Fixed in 14.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager to version 14.3 or later to address this vulnerability.

Fix this in Endpoint Protection Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5835 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-5835 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