Vulnerability Database

325,773

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2016-5309

The RAR file parser component in the AntiVirus Decomposer engine in Symantec Advanced Threat Protection: Network (ATP); Symantec Email Security.Cloud; Symantec Data Center Security: Server; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for Windows before 12.1.6 MP5; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for Mac; Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for Linux before 12.1.6 MP6; Symantec Endpoint Protection for Small Business Enterprise (SEP SBE/SEP.Cloud); Symantec Endpoint Protection Cloud (SEPC) for Windows/Mac; Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition 12.1; CSAPI before 10.0.4 HF02; Symantec Protection Engine (SPE) before 7.0.5 HF02, 7.5.x before 7.5.4 HF02, 7.5.5 before 7.5.5 HF01, and 7.8.x before 7.8.0 HF03; Symantec Mail Security for Domino (SMSDOM) before 8.0.9 HF2.1, 8.1.x before 8.1.2 HF2.3, and 8.1.3 before 8.1.3 HF2.2; Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) before 6.5.8_3968140 HF2.3, 7.x before 7.0_3966002 HF2.1, and 7.5.x before 7.5_3966008 VHF2.2; Symantec Protection for SharePoint Servers (SPSS) before SPSS_6.0.3_To_6.0.5_HF_2.5 update, 6.0.6 before 6.0.6 HF_2.6, and 6.0.7 before 6.0.7_HF_2.7; Symantec Messaging Gateway (SMG) before 10.6.2; Symantec Messaging Gateway for Service Providers (SMG-SP) before 10.5 patch 260 and 10.6 before patch 259; Symantec Web Gateway; and Symantec Web Security.Cloud allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via a crafted RAR file that is mishandled during decompression.

  • Published: Apr 14, 2017
  • Updated: Nov 9, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2016-5309
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 5.5
  • AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v2:

  • Severity: Low
  • Score: 4.3
  • AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CWEs:

Software From Fixed in
symantec / protection_engine - 7.0.5.x
symantec / protection_for_sharepoint_servers 6.0.5 6.0.5.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange - 6.5.8.x
symantec / messaging_gateway - 10.6.1.x
symantec / mail_security_for_domino - 8.0.9.x
symantec / endpoint_protection - 12.1.4.x
symantec / mail_security_for_domino 8.1.3 8.1.3.x
symantec / endpoint_protection_for_small_business - 12.1.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.0.3 7.0.3.x
symantec / messaging_gateway_for_service_providers 10.6 10.6.x
symantec / protection_for_sharepoint_servers 6.0.3 6.0.3.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.0.4 7.0.4.x
symantec / endpoint_protection - 12.1.6.x
symantec / protection_engine 7.5.0 7.5.0.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.5.2 7.5.2.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.5.1 7.5.1.x
symantec / protection_for_sharepoint_servers 6.0.7 6.0.7.x
symantec / messaging_gateway_for_service_providers 10.5 10.5.x
symantec / mail_security_for_domino 8.1.2 8.1.2.x
symantec / protection_for_sharepoint_servers 6.0.4 6.0.4.x
symantec / protection_engine 7.5.1 7.5.1.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.0 7.0.x
symantec / protection_engine 7.5.4 7.5.4.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.5 7.5.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.5.3 7.5.3.x
symantec / csapi - 10.0.4.x
symantec / protection_for_sharepoint_servers 6.0.6 6.0.6.x
symantec / protection_engine 7.8.0 7.8.0.x
symantec / protection_engine 7.5.3 7.5.3.x
symantec / protection_engine 7.5.2 7.5.2.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.5.4 7.5.4.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.0.2 7.0.2.x
symantec / protection_engine 7.5.5 7.5.5.x
symantec / mail_security_for_microsoft_exchange 7.0.1 7.0.1.x

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.