CVE-2012-2977

Symantec Web Gateway <5.0.3.18 - RCE

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 2 public exploits for CVE-2012-2977. PoCs published by Kc57.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This Metasploit auxiliary module exploits CVE-2012-2977 to arbitrarily change the password of any user on Symantec Web Gateway <= 5.0.3.18 by leveraging an unauthenticated password reset vulnerability in the `/spywall/temppassword.php` endpoint.

Description

The management console in Symantec Web Gateway 5.0.x before 5.0.3.18 allows remote attackers to change arbitrary passwords via crafted input to an application script.

Exploits (2)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Kc57 · rubywebappslinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/20706

This Metasploit auxiliary module exploits CVE-2012-2977 to arbitrarily change the password of any user on Symantec Web Gateway <= 5.0.3.18 by leveraging an unauthenticated password reset vulnerability in the `/spywall/temppassword.php` endpoint.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Auth Bypass
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Symantec Web Gateway <= 5.0.3.18
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target's HTTP/HTTPS service
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Kc57 · pythonwebappslinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/20707

This exploit targets Symantec Web Gateway <= 5.0.3.18 by sending a crafted POST request to 'temppassword.php' to arbitrarily change a user's password. It leverages a vulnerability in the password reset mechanism without requiring prior authentication.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Auth Bypass
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Symantec Web Gateway <= 5.0.3.18
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target · Valid username to change password for
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (3)

Core 3
Core References
Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource third-party-advisory x_refsource_cert-vn
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/108471
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_bid
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/54430

Scores

EPSS 0.0278
EPSS Percentile 84.5%

Details

CWE
CWE-264
Status published
Products (4)
symantec/web_gateway 5.0
symantec/web_gateway 5.0.1
symantec/web_gateway 5.0.2
symantec/web_gateway 5.0.3
Published Jul 23, 2012
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026