In Preferences, under Selection and Anchor Display, check Object Selection by Path Only.

Create or open a document.

Drag a symbol out of the Symbol panel. Choose one with a large filled area.

Zoom in on the symbol.

With either of the 3 selection tools, drag over a filled part of the symbol. Do not drag over any paths.

It doesn't matter whether you're viewing in Outline or Preview.

The symbol becomes selected.

It should not become selected due to the prefs option noted above.
It worked correctly in v22 & CS6 etc. It's been close to a year with this problem.

Please contact me if you do not understand any details.

Running Windows 10.