CVE-2020-5837
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 14.3, may not respect file permissions when writing to log files that are replaced by symbolic links, which can lead to a potential elevation of privilege.
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 confidenceSymantec Endpoint Protection versions prior to 14.3 do not properly handle symbolic links when writing to log files. An attacker with local access could replace a log file with a symbolic link pointing to a sensitive file (such as a system binary or configuration), causing the security product to write to the target file with elevated privileges and achieve privilege escalation.
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< 14.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 Symantec Endpoint Protection is installedCheck for SEP installation by looking for its process (smc.exe, Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager service) or checking Program Files for Symantec folder, or querying the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC\productversionAffected if Symantec Endpoint Protection is not installed on the system - this CVE only affects systems with SEP present
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Determine installed SEP versionOpen Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC\productversion, or run 'smc -version' from the SEP client install directory, or check Programs and Features for Symantec Endpoint Protection versionAffected if The installed version is any release prior to 14.3 (for example 14.2, 14.0, 12.x, or 11.x) - versions below 14.3 are vulnerable
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Confirm log writing functionality is activeCheck if SEP is actively running by verifying the SMC service status (services.msc) and reviewing if logging is enabled in the SEP client policy under 'Policy > Client Management > Settings > Logging'Affected if SEP is actively running with logging enabled - the vulnerability is only exploitable when the product writes to its log files while following symlinks
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Inspect log directory permissionsNavigate to the SEP log directory (typically C:\ProgramData\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\CurrentVersion\Data\Logs or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\...\Logs) and check if non-admin users have write access to this locationAffected if Users with limited privileges can write to the SEP log directory - combined with version < 14.3, this allows the symlink attack
A system is affected if it runs any version of Symantec Endpoint Protection prior to 14.3, has the log writing feature enabled, and allows non-privileged users to write files in the log directory.
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 data14.3
Upgrade Symantec Endpoint Protection to version 14.3 or later to obtain the patched version that enforces proper file permission validation when following symbolic links.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5837 — 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-2020-5837 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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