# CVE-2016-5311: Privilege escalation in Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition Cloud, and Endpoint Protection Cloud Client

> Local attackers can gain system privileges via DLL preloading in Symantec Norton and Endpoint Protection products.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Jan 2020
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g7qp-85xf-w4q4

## What is CVE-2016-5311?

CVE-2016-5311 is a high-severity vulnerability in Symantec Endpoint Protection, published on 9 Jan 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A Privilege Escalation vulnerability exists in Symantec Norton Antivirus, Norton AntiVirus with Backup, Norton Security, Norton Security with Backup, Norton Internet Security, Norton 360, Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition Cloud, and Endpoint Protection Cloud Client due to a DLL-preloading without path restrictions, which could let a local malicious user obtain system privileges.

Weakness: CWE-427 (Uncontrolled Search Path Element)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-5311?

It affects 9 products.


Products: Symantec Endpoint Protection, Symantec Endpoint Protection Cloud, Symantec Norton 360, Symantec Norton Antivirus, Symantec Norton Antivirus With Backup, Symantec Norton Family, Symantec Norton Internet Security, Symantec Norton Security, Symantec Norton Security With Backup.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-5311?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-5311 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-5311 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-5311 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Symantec Endpoint Protection

- [CVE-2012-0295](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0295/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2018-5237](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5237/): Privilege escalation in Symantec Endpoint Protection (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-5836](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5836/): Privilege escalation in Symantec Endpoint Protection (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-5837](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5837/): Path traversal in Symantec Endpoint Protection (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-5820](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5820/): Privilege escalation in Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) and Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition (SEP SBE) (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-5311 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-5311 is a high-severity vulnerability in Symantec Endpoint Protection, published on 9 Jan 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-5311 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Symantec Endpoint Protection. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5311/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5311/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-5311
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-5311
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-5311

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5311/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.