CVE-2000-0273 is a vulnerability in Symantec's PCAnywhere remote control software versions 8.0 and 9.0. The flaw allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition by prematurely terminating the connection before PCAnywhere presents the login prompt to the user. Specifically, the software does not handle abrupt connection terminations gracefully, which leads to resource exhaustion or service disruption. This vulnerability does not require authentication, nor does it compromise confidentiality or integrity, but it impacts availability by preventing legitimate users from establishing remote sessions. The CVSS score of 5.0 (medium severity) reflects the network attack vector, low attack complexity, no authentication required, no impact on confidentiality or integrity, but partial impact on availability. No patches or fixes are available for this vulnerability, and there are no known exploits in the wild documented. Given the age of the vulnerability (published in 2000), it primarily affects legacy systems still running these specific PCAnywhere versions. PCAnywhere was widely used for remote administration and support, so disruption could impact IT operations relying on this tool.

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is operational disruption due to denial of service on remote administration tools. Organizations using PCAnywhere 8.0 or 9.0 may experience interruptions in remote support and management capabilities, potentially delaying incident response and system maintenance. This could be particularly problematic for critical infrastructure, financial institutions, and enterprises with distributed IT environments relying on remote access. However, since the vulnerability does not allow unauthorized access or data compromise, the risk is limited to availability. The lack of patches means organizations must rely on mitigating controls or migration to newer, supported remote access solutions. Given the age of the vulnerability, many organizations may have already replaced or disabled PCAnywhere, reducing the overall risk. Nonetheless, legacy systems in sectors with slower upgrade cycles (e.g., manufacturing, government) may still be vulnerable.

Since no patches are available, European organizations should consider the following specific mitigations: 1) Disable or uninstall PCAnywhere versions 8.0 and 9.0 wherever possible, replacing them with modern, supported remote access tools that receive security updates. 2) If PCAnywhere must be used, restrict network access to the PCAnywhere service using firewall rules or network segmentation to limit exposure to trusted IP addresses only, reducing the attack surface. 3) Monitor network traffic for unusual connection attempts or repeated connection terminations targeting PCAnywhere ports to detect potential DoS attempts. 4) Implement rate limiting or connection throttling on network devices to mitigate rapid connection attempts that could trigger the DoS. 5) Maintain an inventory of systems running legacy remote access software and prioritize their upgrade or decommissioning. 6) Educate IT staff about the vulnerability and ensure incident response plans consider potential remote access disruptions.