I’ve recently encountered an issue where my Norton antivirus flagged an alert related to “HNS-ACCESSIBLE-SYSTEM-FOLDER.” It seems to be associated with system folders, but I’m unsure whether this is a real security threat or a system permissions issue. I would appreciate any guidance on how to resolve this alert safely.
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
Running a full system scan
Checking my system’s folder permissions
Restarting and ensuring Windows updates are installed
Is there any specific action I should take to eliminate this alert? Could this be due to any recent Norton updates, or is it more likely an issue on my PC?
I have the same issue. The guidance from Norton on the message is very poor. How about an explanation of what is happening. Is it an open port on a router? Is it incorrect security settings on a system folder? Could the Norton firewall be configured to block access? Just switching on the Norton VPN for any such issue doesn’t seem to be an optimal approach.
And other virus/firewall providers seem to give at least some guidance. More for our subscriptions please Norton. I’d like protection, not adverts for PC maintenance.
For me, I think Norton started giving this error message after a recent update, although I had built a new PC with a clean Windows 11 install not long before. The message was given at every boot as Norton checked the network. It feels like a port issue as much as an accessible system folder issue. The message then stopped appearing for a while, but I just had it again at the end of a Smart Scan. It seems clear that Norton is looking for the issue, rather than the message being triggered by an event or attack. The connected network is set to Private, as we carry out file sharing across it and it’s behind an ISPs firewall.
And the Norton version you have is also 25.xx ? Ignore Smart Scan, it finds things that aren’t valid as sell-up issues. Those are my observations. Also, have a look at your video drivers to see if they are the latest for your GPU.
Smart Scan checks network connections so it’s possible Norton sees a vulnerability. Does N360 identify the accessible folder? Is it possible you gave that folder special permission lowering its security?
If you’re concerned about port exposure, one way to check is test them using GRC ShieldsUp. Read the information at that site. In addition to the first 1055 service ports, you can run custom probe for ports above 1055. Instructions here. Tracking thread for the new version 25.xx release - #32 by Puzzler
Totally agree with @SoulAsylum about the sell ups. Have been complaining to Norton about it for years. Bits of Smart Scan work - I ignore the rest. The problem with this issue is that it is (at least was) flagged without running Smart Scan. Current version is 25.1.9816 (build 25.1.9816.0). Video drivers are Nvidia’s latest.
@Puzzler: thanks for the links. Have looked at those and support from other anti-malware providers. Not found anything helpful yet.
My main request is for Norton to improve their product by providing more information. Which system folder is accessible? I want to do something about it, not just turn on their VPN and have Norton see and delay all my traffic. And stop the upselling please!
Somewhat out of habit I’ve run sfc /scannow and DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth. I might hope that sfc checks the protection on system files - a web search says it does! The later did give me a ‘component store is repairable’ message so I ran DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. I’ll report back as to whether this stops the reported Norton message. Not hopeful.
Still get the message. It does include ‘Attackers can access personal files and photos on this device’. Well, on the local network it’s true that a few folders are automatically shared by Windows (such as Photos and Media for each user) so these are accessible. And we share other folders. But they are all explicitly protected by specifying which users can access them.
Also, the message says 'Vulnerable service found - An attacker can access a service on this device without proper authentication". But that isn’t an accessible system folder issue - it doesn’t match the vulnerability message.
Totally agree with your request on more info. Leaving users in the dark only causes anxiety when Norton doesn’t provide adequate and actionable information.
Regarding the system folder that Norton is seeing as accessible, my suggestion is contact Norton’s tech support. Maybe they know a way to identify which folder is triggering the alert.
As for Norton changing their business practice of upselling, we’re beating a dead horse. It’s DOA. In fact they’re heading in the opposite direction. They’ve removed features that used to come bundled in N360 and are selling those as standalones. We have to pay even more to get what we had already paid for. At least Norton got rid of cryptomining. What a nutty idea.
