Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 13:05:19 -0600
From: Sym Security <symsecurity@...antec.com>
To: bugtraq@...urityfocus.com
Subject: Re:   SRT2004-01-9-1022 - Symantec LiveUpdate allows local users to become
 SYSTEM


In response to SnoSoft's, SRT2004-01-9-1022 - Symantec LiveUpdate allows 
local users to become SYSTEM,  01/12/2004 06:22AM:




Quick Summary:
************************************************************************
Advisory Number         : SRT2004-01-09-1022
Product                 : Symantec LiveUpdate
Version                 : 1.70.x through 1.90.x
Vendor                  : http://symantec.com/techsupp/files/lu/lu.html
Class                   : Local
Criticality             : High (to users of the below listed products)
Products Affected                : Symantec LiveUpdate 1.70.x through 
1.90.x
                                                 : Norton SystemWorks 
2001-2004
                                                 : Norton AntiVirus (and 
Pro) 2001-2004
                                                 : Norton Internet 
Security (and Pro) 2001-2004
                                                 : Symantec AntiVirus for 
Handhelds v3.0
Operating System(s)     : Win32 
-------------------------------snip----------------------------



Symantec Security Response Advisory 

SYM04-001

12 January 2004

Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate Local User Elevation of Privilege 

Revision History
None

Risk Impact
Medium

Local access required.  Automatic LiveUpdate launches as a scheduled task 
if so configured and only on systems running retail versions of Symantec 
products.  Impact of this issue would result in elevated privilege on the 
host system only and is highly dependent on system configuration and 
environment.

Overview
Security analysts from Secure Network Operations notified Symantec of a 
potential issue with the Automatic LiveUpdate feature, available with 
retail versions of some Symantec products, when running as a scheduled 
task.  If the system is configured as a multi-user system with privileged 
and non-privileged user access, a non-privileged user could potentially 
access and manipulate the Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate GUI functionality 
to gain privileged system access.

Affected Components
Symantec Windows LiveUpdate 1.70.x through 1.90.x
Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2001-2004
Symantec Norton AntiVirus and Norton AntiVirus Pro 2001-2004
Symantec Norton Internet Security and Norton Internet Security Pro 
2001-2004
Symantec AntiVirus for Handhelds v3.0 

Not Affected
Symantec Windows LiveUpdate v2.x
Symantec Java LiveUpdate (all versions)
Symantec Enterprise products (Symantec Enterprise products do not support 
the Automatic LiveUpdate functionality)

Details
Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate, a functionality included with many Symantec 
retail products, is launched by the system scheduler on system startup and 
then periodically after startup.  Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate checks for 
available updates to any supported Symantec products installed on the 
system. 

Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate can be configured to notify the user when 
Symantec product updates are available for download.  Symantec Automatic 
LiveUpdate does this via a LiveUpdate icon displayed in the system 
taskbar.  At this prompt, the user may choose to open an interactive 
LiveUpdate session to retrieve any available updates.

When a vulnerable version of Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate is initially 
launched at startup it is assigned Local System privileges.  During the 
time when an interactive LiveUpdate session is available, and only during 
this session, a non-privileged user could potentially manipulate the 
LiveUpdate GUI functionality to gain elevated privilege on the local host. 
 For example, the user could gain privileges to search all system files, 
assume full permission for directories and files on the host, or add 
themselves to the local administrative group. 

Symantec Response

Symantec verified this vulnerability does exist in the current supported 
versions of Automatic LiveUpdate shipped with many Symantec retail 
products.  This issue is fixed in the latest release of Symantec Windows 
LiveUpdate v2.0. 

Symantec Windows LiveUpdate 2.0 is available for download from the 
Symantec technical support site at 
http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/files/lu/lu.html should you choose not to 
update via Symantec's LiveUpdate capability.

Symantec Windows LiveUpdate 2.0 is also available for all supported 
Symantec products via the Symantec product's LiveUpdate function.  To 
update using LiveUpdate, select the LiveUpdate option within your retail 
Symantec product and download and install all available updates.  In some 
cases, the update to LiveUpdate 2.0 may required a restart of your system 
to complete.

To determine your version of Symantec LiveUpdate:

1. Open any Symantec retail product installed on your system, e.g., 
Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2004
2. Click on LiveUpdate in the toolbar
3. Click on the LiveUpdate system menu to see the drop-down selections



4. Click on "About LiveUpdate" to see the version of LiveUpdate you are 
running

If you are running a version of Symantec LiveUpdate prior to v2.0, 
Symantec recommends running LiveUpdate or downloading Symantec Windows 
LiveUpdate v2.0 from the support site indicated above to upgrade your 
system to the latest version of Symantec LiveUpdate.

Mitigating Circumstances

While effectively exploiting this issue would permit a non-privileged user 
to gain privileged access on the local host, there are mitigating 
circumstances that greatly reduce the risk of exploitation in Symantec's 
Automatic LiveUpdate: 

* Symantec Automatic LiveUpdate is implemented in retail versions of 
Symantec products ONLY. 
* The system is vulnerable only if the interactive LiveUpdate capability 
is available to the user
o Automatic LiveUpdate must be configured with the option enabled to 
notify the user when updates are available
o If the system is a single-user system, this issue would not have an 
impact
o If the system IS configured as a multi-user system with privileged and 
non-privileged user access to the host system, the non-privileged user 
would require an authorized user account on the host system and must be 
logged on interactively to exploit this issue
* Elevated privileges can be gained only on the local system, which 
normally limits any impact

Credit
Symantec takes the security and proper functionality of its products very 
seriously. Symantec appreciates the efforts of KF and the Security Network 
Operations security team in identifying this issue and coordinating with 
Symantec during the verification and fix process to properly update and 
protect Symantec customers.  Information on this and other security issues 
can be found at the Secure Network Operations Inc., web site, 
http://www.secnetops.com/

CVE
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) initiative has assigned the 
name CAN-2003-0994 to this issue.
This is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), 
which standardizes names for security problems.

Anyone with information on security issues with Symantec products should 
contact symsecurity@...antec.com. This advisory is posted on the Symantec 
Security Response page.

Encryption
Symantec strongly recommends using encrypted email for reporting 
vulnerability information to symsecurity@...antec.com.  The SymSecurity 
PGP key may be obtained here.


Copyright (c) 2004 by Symantec Corp. 
Permission to redistribute this Advisory electronically is granted as long 
as it is not edited in any way unless authorized by Symantec Security 
Response. Reprinting the whole or part of this Advisory in a medium other 
than electronically requires permission from symsecurity@...antec.com. 

Disclaimer: 
The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at the time of 
printing based on currently available information. Use of the information 
constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are no 
warranties with regard to this information. Neither the author nor the 
publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential 
loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on this information. 

Symantec, Symantec Security Response, Symantec product names and Sym 
Security are Registered Trademarks of Symantec Corp. and/or affiliated 
companies in the United States and other countries. All other registered 
and unregistered trademarks represented in this document are the sole 
property of their respective companies/owners.




 

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