Official advisory to all State employees.

Impact
High

Overview
A stack overflow in Symantec Client Security and Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition could potentially allow a remote or local attacker to execute code on the affected machine.

Products Affected

Note: All builds listed above are English versions only. Localized builds are pending.

Details
Symantec was notified that Symantec Client Security and Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition are susceptible to a potential stack overflow. Exploiting this overflow successfully could potentially cause a system crash, or allow a remote or local attacker to execute arbitrary code with System level rights on the affected system.

Symantec Response
Symantec advisory will be updated when product updates to address this issue are available.

To help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability Symantec recommends the following best practices:

• Restrict access to administration or management systems to privileged users only, with additional restricted access to the physical host system(s) if possible.
• Keep all operating systems and applications updated with the latest vendor patches.
• Follow a multi-layered approach to security. Run both firewall and antivirus applications, at a minimum to provide multiple points of detection and protection to both inbound and outbound threats.
• Be cautious visiting unknown or untrusted websites or following unknown URL links.
• Do not open attachments or executables from unknown sources or that you didn't request or were unaware of. Always err on the side of caution. Even if the sender is known, the source address may be spoofed.

Even though we are not aware of any agencies impacted by this vulnerability, RI Division of IT recommends agencies immediately apply the latest Security Update to protect against potential related attacks.