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Symantec slams the door on Live Update flaw

Munir Kotadia ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 13 Jan 2004 16:55 GMT

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Security company Symantec, developer of the popular Norton AntiVirus software, fixed a problem in its Live Update feature last week - a vulnerability that could allow malicious users to gain unauthorised administrator access rights to an affected PC.

Live Update is a feature Symantec's customers use in order to keep their virus signatures and security applications up to date. It can be set to automatically connect to the Internet and check Symantec's servers for a newer version. If one is found, the software can either prompt the user or automatically download and install the update, which is the recommended setting.

According to Symantec, the problem only affects Windows versions of its software and is rather obscure, requiring "a number of conditions" to be in place before it can be exploited. If an application has been set up in multi-user mode, with privileged and non-privileged access rights, it is possible for a non-privileged user to access and manipulate the Automatic Live Update interface in order to gain privileged access to the host computer.

The vulnerability, which was discovered by US-based consultants Secure Network Operations, was published on Tuesday, by which time Symantec had already fixed the problem by making a new version (2.0) of its Live Update feature available to download.

Symantec said the latest version of the update engine will be "automatically installed on a user's machine as soon as the computer connects to the Internet." If automatic live update has been disabled, users can use still Live Update to download and install the 4MB patch as soon as possible.

This is the second embarrassing episode for Symantec in a matter of days. Last Friday, Symantec's support forums were flooded with Norton AntiVirus users complaining of slow and unstable computers after the latest signature updates.

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122 comments

  1. Why does my iMac with 10.2.8 keep coming up with m... Anonymous
  2. Why does my ME windows have trouble connecting wit... Anonymous
  3. Symantec has more than one Live Update flaw, in my... Anonymous
  4. I deleted Norton antivirus software from my PC and... Anonymous
  5. I am dumping Symantec products completely. Th... Anonymous
  6. I have Norton however, I don't know how run on-lin... Anthony Panzica
  7. OK. I take it back. GO TO... "Step 5: Rena... cmthomas
  8. I did the following steps...it seemed to... Anonymous
  9. Talk about a program getting worse with time inste... Shawn
  10. why can't I get this thing to print the memo about... Anonymous
  11. I cannot get a liveupdate from symantec after down... William Marshall
  12. I had exactly the same problem! I am not impr... Iain Hepburn
  13. I never had problems with liveupdate UNT... Anonymous
  14. This is too wierd: I not only canno... Sandra
  15. Norton Anti Virus 2005. Not only are th... Anonymous
  16. I have the same problem as everyone... Stephen Skirving
  17. My solution for fixing the pro... Anonymous
  18. I keep getting a message that live update can... Anonymous
  19. I cannot get a liveupdate from symantec after down... Anonymous
  20. hello i am from holland enschede. I get the s... overbeek
  21. I have been trying to update my norton antivirus s... Jack Sevakian
  22. I cannot get Live Update to run either. Afte... Anonymous
  23. I too can not get the symantec live upda... Anonymous
  24. I cant update since I renewed my su... Anonymous
  25. Sometimes you have to use spec... Lannie Haven
  26. We have got 'LU1814 Live Updat... Frances Smith
  27. Had problems with LU1814 last... Dave McCoy
  28. In my opinion Norton is genera... Anonymous
  29. I've had the Symantec Update L... Anonymous
  30. Yesterday I received an e-mail... Anonymous
  31. Potential LU1814 solution... I... Katrina
  32. LU1814 and Zone Alarm, July 20... Doug Godbee
  33. Have you tried this update: ht... Mark Hendrixson
  34. I tried the update and it did... Bruce
  35. After many attemps to resolve... CM Thomas
  36. Title: 'Error: "LU1814: LiveUp... Anonymous
  37. LU1814 on Norton AntiVirus2005... Anonymous
  38. Each time I start up Windows,... Joshua Lee
  39. if your'e running windows 98 .... anonymous
  40. Same issue here. I'm looking... Murray
  41. Do a google search using Norto... Anonymous
  42. Here is what worked for me: ht... D Romej
  43. The delete of the files you re... bubba
  44. Yup this one works http://tiny... Anonymous
  45. I fixed it by doing two things... TheOldPig
  46. Ok people, this resolved the L... Anonymous
  47. Thanks to whomever suggested t... Craig Tucker
  48. Zone Alarm firewall caused LU1... Anonymous
  49. YES!! Deleting the file 'S32lu... Anonymous
  50. I renamed s32luhl1.dll to *.ol... Anonymous
  51. Dear Anon, it tech your soluti... Don
  52. This worked for me too. Thank... Jim
  53. This worked for me too Go to \... Anonymous
  54. Thank you for your solution fo... Anonymous
  55. cheers mate renaming this file... ROMEO
  56. Renaming the file worked Anonymous
  57. Works great. I just renamed it... Adrian
  58. Excellent. Thanks a lot - tha... Mark
  59. Hey thanks a lot. that worked... Anonymous
  60. Recently upgraded to Symantec... Anonymous
  61. Well done! Best fix ever! Been... Stephen Walsh
  62. I had the LU1814 problem also.... John Dodger
  63. I just wanted to say thanks to... Anonymous
  64. This worked for me. 1. Open th... Anonymous
  65. your file rename worked for me... Anonymous
  66. After trying everything possib... Wally
  67. I dont have the file s32LUHL1.... vickie
  68. Your solution to rename the fi... Anonymous
  69. This solution is simple and it... Phil Zern
  70. Thanks a million to "Novice Te... AJ
  71. Can someone help please. I als... Anonymous
  72. I am the previous poster and w... Anonymous
  73. I'm having the same problem, h... walt
  74. I was getting ready to roll up... Anonymous
  75. From above - this worked for m... Anonymous
  76. It worked! It worked! Took 6... Anonymous
  77. Same issue with Norton firewal... Anonymous
  78. I extremely grateful to whoeve... Anonymous
  79. Thank you, Novice Tech, whoeve... Anonymous
  80. This also worked for me! Thank... Anonymous
  81. This is GENIUS! Symantec needs... mh
  82. Perfect fix. Thanks One stupid... TL
  83. Thanks Buddy... It works... wa... Rakesh Virwar
  84. This worked for LU1814 problem... vasiya
  85. Dear Frances and Others, I exp... Lohit Tutupalli
  86. Thanks so much Lohit Tutupalli... Bonnie Smith
  87. I have the same problem. For 3... Anonymous
  88. >Never failed to get Norton ba... rich herzog
  89. I think one problem that some... Robin
  90. I am another user that cannot... Carol Pike
  91. Hi People try this following t... Nischay Mehta
  92. Downloaded Nortons Internet Se... Regina Clayton
  93. I just renewed my Norton Antiv... Anonymous
  94. Here is a solution that worked for... Mark Hendrxson
  95. The solution posted by Mark He... Alan Worthington
  96. I updated to Internet 2005 las... Anonymous
  97. You have a virus on your computer. Do your wi... joe
  98. I have the same problem which started when I... Matt Masella
  99. This is becoming a serious issue lately.... Mike
  100. Purchased renewal for subscription... bill eff
  101. I've had the same issue - I've... Anonymous
  102. Name: Anonymous Occupation:... Anonymous
  103. Our LU1814 problem was solved... Anonymous
  104. your missing your ccCommon.msi file... Anonymous
  105. I am so happy to find out that I am not the only o... Jennifer Thompson
  106. I guess I am not alone error # 1814. I have printe... Frank
  107. I am having problems with Norton Antivirus Live up... Donald G. Mascia
  108. I also had a problem after installing one of... Brian Clarke
  109. i just installed norton anti virus 2006.every... john digger
  110. I think i'm havind similar problems. I t... jamal
  111. Installed Internet Security 2006 on April 1.... Anonymous
  112. I had the same problem. A solution appeared in the... Anonymous
  113. This worked for me. I had successfully cleaned W3... Anonymous
  114. I have been trying all week to run Live Update bec... Anonymous
  115. i have had nis 2005 for three months . everything... anonymous
  116. i have had nis 2005 for three months . everything... anonymous
  117. Yes I had the same, I did 6 re-installs and... David Smith
  118. If you cannot install live updates go to lusetup s... Anonymous
  119. fantastic, tried all the things that Symantec sugg... Peter Wood
  120. Great tip...thank you. Anonymous
  121. Hey out there, Can you help me fix my live update.... Anonymous
  122. I have Norton internet security 2006 and am unable... Anonymous

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