Avast Free Antivirus AvastSvc Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Avast Free Antivirus AvastSvc Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Avast Free Antivirus. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the Avast Service. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the service to delete a folder. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-23731.
- Published
- Nov 22, 2024
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.4% · 30th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-59
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Report tools
Action score
31
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.4%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 7.8
- CNA · zdi
- 7.8
- agree
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| avast | free antivirus | cpe:2.3:a:avast:free_antivirus |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- avast free antivirus24.2.6105
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (zdi). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
Avast Free Antivirus
- 24.2.6105 (build 24.2.8918.827)affected
Same product
avast: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2024-7232Avast Free Antivirus AvastSvc Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability31Monitor
- CVE-2024-7227Avast Free Antivirus AvastSvc Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability31Monitor
- CVE-2018-12572Avast Free Antivirus prior to 19.1.2360 stores user credentials in memory upon login, which allows local users to obtain sensitive informati31Monitor
- CVE-2017-5567Code injection vulnerability in Avast Premier 12.3 (and earlier), Internet Security 12.3 (and earlier), Pro Antivirus 12.3 (and earlier), an26Monitor
- CVE-2024-7228Avast Free Antivirus Link Following Denial-of-Service Vulnerability22Monitor
- CVE-2025-10905Collision in minifilter driver of Avast Free Antivirus results in disabling of real-time protection17Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
- CVE-2024-72270 days apartAvast Free Antivirus AvastSvc Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability31Monitor
- CVE-2024-72320 days apartAvast Free Antivirus AvastSvc Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability31Monitor
- CVE-2024-72280 days apartAvast Free Antivirus Link Following Denial-of-Service Vulnerability22Monitor
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-59 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
ATT&CK techniques
- Obfuscated Files or Information: HTML SmugglingT1027.006
- Obfuscated Files or Information: Embedded PayloadsT1027.009
- Boot or Logon Autostart Execution:Shortcut ModificationT1547.009
- Hide Artifacts: Resource ForkingT1564.009
- Hijack Execution Flow: Executable Installer File Permissions WeaknessT1574.005
- Hijack Execution Flow: Services File Permissions WeaknessT1574.010
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.