# CVE-2022-37016: Privilege escalation in Symantec Endpoint Protection

> An attacker can exploit a vulnerability in the Symantec Endpoint Protection Windows agent to gain elevated access to protected system resources.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 24 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xf35-ghx9-6hhf

## What is CVE-2022-37016?

CVE-2022-37016 is a critical vulnerability in Symantec Endpoint Protection, published on 1 Dec 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Symantec Endpoint Protection (Windows) agent may be susceptible to a Privilege Escalation vulnerability, which is a type of issue whereby an attacker may attempt to compromise the software application to gain elevated access to resources that are normally protected from an application or user.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-37016?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Broadcom Symantec Endpoint Protection.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-37016?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-37016 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-37016 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-37016 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Symantec Endpoint Protection

- [CVE-2022-25631](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-25631/): Privilege escalation in Symantec Endpoint Protection (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-37017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-37017/): Security feature bypass in Symantec Endpoint Protection (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-37016 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-37016 is a critical vulnerability in Symantec Endpoint Protection, published on 1 Dec 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-37016 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-2022-37016/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-37016/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-37016
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-37016
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-37016

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-37016/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.