Google security researcher blasts Symantec for flaws that are "as bad as it gets"

Calling a set of recently disclosed vulnerabilities "as bad as it gets," Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy outlined several critical flaws in the security offerings of Symantec, including both their enterprise offerings as well as under Symantec's consumer brand, Norton.

The worst of the flaws lets a user send a hostile payload that, once unpacked by automated processes, runs "software runs at the highest privilege levels possible."

The affected software includes, but is not limited to, the following products:

While the flaws have been patched by Norton, some of the software does not automatically patch itself and must be manually secured.

In a statement, Symantec acknowledge the security flaws and stated it had been working with Ormandy to remedy the situation, and that fixes are available now: