# CVE-2016-9093: Privilege escalation in Endpoint Protection

> A local non-admin user can exploit a Symantec Endpoint Protection driver flaw to crash the system or execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Apr 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x9r7-96pf-frgq

## What is CVE-2016-9093?

CVE-2016-9093 is a high-severity vulnerability in Symantec Endpoint Protection, published on 16 Apr 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A version of the SymEvent Driver that shipped with Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 RU6 MP6 and earlier fails to properly sanitize logged-in user input. SEP 14.0 and later are not impacted by this issue. A non-admin user would need to be able to save an executable file to disk and then be able to successfully run that file. If properly constructed, the file could access the driver interface and potentially manipulate certain system calls. On all 32-bit systems and in most cases on 64-bit systems, this will result in a denial of service that will crash the system. In very narrow circumstances, and on 64-bit systems only, this could allow the user to run arbitrary code on the local machine with kernel-level privileges. This could result in a non-privileged user gaining privileged access on the local machine.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-9093?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Symantec Endpoint Protection.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-9093?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-9093 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-9093 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9093 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-2016-9093 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-9093 is a high-severity vulnerability in Symantec Endpoint Protection, published on 16 Apr 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9093 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-2016-9093/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9093/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-9093
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9093
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-9093

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9093/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.