Summary

Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) is susceptible to an XML External Entities injection vulnerability. The SPE Java Console User Interface (UI) installation allows SPE administrator to add external entities in XML requests, which could potentially allow unauthorized access to restricted filesystem data. This vulnerability is not applicable to those who are using Cloud console or XML modifier directly (without the Java console).

Affected Product(s)

Issue Details

Mitigation & Additional Information

The following product updates have been made available to customers to remediate these issues:

• SPE 8.2.2 Server Hotfix: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/246932/protection-engine-admin-can-inject-xml-w.html

Symantec recommends the following measures to reduce risk of attack:

• Restrict access to administrative or management systems to authorized privileged users.
• Restrict remote access to trusted/authorized systems only.
• Run under the principle of least privilege, where possible, to limit the impact of potential exploit.
• Keep all operating systems and applications current with vendor patches.
• Follow a multi-layered approach to security. At a minimum, run both firewall and anti-malware applications to provide multiple points of detection and protection for both inbound and outbound threats.
• Deploy network and host-based intrusion detection systems to monitor network traffic for signs of anomalous or suspicious activity. This may aid in the detection of attacks or malicious activity related to the exploitation of latent vulnerabilities.

Acknowledgements

• CVE-2022-37014: Michal Bogdanowicz, Nordea Bank ABP | Lukasz Bialek, Nordea Bank ABP