Symantec AntiVirus and Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh "Mount Scan" privilege escalation

symantec-av-mac-privilege-escalation (38229) The risk level is classified as MediumMedium Risk

Description:

Symantec AntiVirus and Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the system. The "Mount Scan" feature uses an executable that is installed with root privileges in the /Library/Application Support folder. If "Mount Scanning" is enabled and the attacker is a member of the admin group, the attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code on the system with root privileges by replacing the privileged "Mount Scan" executable with a malicious application.

*CVSS:

Base Score: 6.6
  Access Vector: Local
  Access Complexity: Medium
  Authentication: Single
  Confidentiality Impact: Complete
  Integrity Impact: Complete
  Availability Impact: Complete
 
Temporal Score: 5.7
  Exploitability: High
  Remediation Level: Official-Fix
  Report Confidence: Confirmed

Consequences:

Gain Privileges

Remedy:

Refer to SYM07-028 for patch, upgrade, or suggested workaround information. See References.

References:

  • Full-Disclosure Mailing List, Fri Nov 02 2007 - 10:49:16 CDT: Local Privilege Escalation in Norton AntiVirus for Mac.
  • SYM07-028: Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh and Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh Local Elevation of Privilege.
  • BID-26253: Symantec AntiVirus For Macintosh Mount Scan Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
  • CVE-2007-5829: The Disk Mount scanner in Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh 9.x and 10.x, Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 10.0 and 10.1, and Norton Internet Security for Macintosh 3.x, uses a directory with weak permissions (group writable), which allows local admin users to gain root privileges by replacing unspecified files, which are executed when a user with physical access inserts a disk and the Show Progress During Mount Scans option is enabled.
  • SA27488: Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh Privilege Escalation Weakness
  • SECTRACK ID: 1018889: Norton Anti-Virus for Macintosh Mount Scan Feature Lets Local Users Gain Root Privileges
  • SECTRACK ID: 1018890: Symantec Anti Virus for Macintosh Mount Scan Feature Lets Local Users Gain Root Privileges
  • VUPEN/ADV-2007-3698: Symantec and Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh Privilege Escalation Issue

Platforms Affected:

  • Symantec AntiVirus 10.0 Macintosh
  • Symantec AntiVirus 10.1 Macintosh
  • Symantec Norton AntiVirus 10.0 Macintosh
  • Symantec Norton AntiVirus 10.1 Macintosh
  • Symantec Norton AntiVirus 10.1
  • Symantec Norton AntiVirus 9.0 Macintosh
  • Symantec Norton AntiVirus 9.0.1 Macintosh
  • Symantec Norton AntiVirus 9.0.2 Macintosh
  • Symantec Norton AntiVirus 9.0.3 Macintosh
  • Symantec Norton Internet Security 3.0 Macintosh

Reported:

Nov 01, 2007

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