Vulnerability Snapshot
CVE-2016-2208 is rated CRITICAL — exploitation is trivial or already observed in the wild and impact is severe. Patch immediately, not on the next maintenance window.
Affected technology: anti-virus_engine.
Executive Summary
The kernel component in Symantec Anti-Virus Engine (AVE) 20151.1 before 20151.1.1.4 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory access violation and system crash) via a malformed PE header file.
Why It Matters
CVE-2016-2208 is rated CRITICAL severity, requiring immediate attention from security teams.
CVSS Base Score: 9.1/10
Affected Technologies
Vendors: symantec
Products: anti-virus_engine
🛡️What Defenders Should Check
Use Vulnios to continuously monitor your exposure to CVE-2016-2208 and similar vulnerabilities.
References & Sources
How Vulnios Detects This
Vulnios scans for this vulnerability using Trivy and Grype for SBOM-based CVE matching and Vulnios CVE feed continuous monitoring against your asset inventory. Run a scan against your environment to see whether you are exposed; findings are linked back to the original CVE record so triage starts with the patch path already known.
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Affected Products
Sources
Related Threat Alerts
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2016-3645 — symantec — norton_security, protection_engine
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2015-8151 — symantec — encryption_management_server
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2013-5017 — symantec — web_gateway
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2015-4523 — symantec — malware_analysis_appliance, malware_analyzer_g2
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2017-6326 — symantec — messaging_gateway
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2001-1125 — symantec — liveupdate
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2016-2208?
CVE-2016-2208 is a critical-severity vulnerability tracked under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program. The kernel component in Symantec Anti-Virus Engine (AVE) 20151.1 before 20151.1.1.4 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory access violation and system c
Am I affected?
Check whether your environment runs anti-virus_engine. If you operate any of those, treat yourself as in scope until you have evidence otherwise. A Vulnios scan will identify the exact assets carrying the affected version.
How urgent is the response?
Critical: do not wait for your normal patch cycle. Verify exposure today, apply the vendor patch immediately, and add detection rules for any post-exploit indicators.
How do I remediate?
Apply the vendor patch listed in the upstream advisory linked under Sources. If the patch is not yet available, follow the vendor-supplied workaround (often a config flag or feature disable) and add detections for the published exploit pattern in your SIEM. Re-scan after the patch lands to confirm the finding clears.
Where can I track exploitation activity?
Watch CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for CVE-2016-2208. Cross-reference with public exploit databases and your own SIEM/IDS for indicator-of-compromise patterns. Vulnios tracks KEV status automatically and surfaces it on the asset findings view.
How does Vulnios help with this?
Vulnios continuously cross-references your asset inventory against the live CVE feed (NVD, vendor advisories, CISA KEV, and curated OSINT). When a new CVE matches your environment, you get a prioritized finding with the severity, KEV status, exploit-prediction (EPSS), and a direct path to the vendor patch. You can start a free scan from the homepage.
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