CVE-2019-17449
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAvira Software Updater before 2.0.6.21094 allows a DLL side-loading attack. NOTE: The vendor thinks that this vulnerability is invalid because exploiting it would require at least administrator privileges and would gain only SYSTEM privileges
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceAvira Software Updater before version 2.0.6.21094 is vulnerable to DLL side-loading, allowing an attacker with administrator privileges to place a malicious DLL in a location from which the application loads DLLs without proper path validation, resulting in code execution with SYSTEM privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 2.0.6.21094CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Avira Software Updater is installedCheck for Avira Software Updater in the system registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or look for the executable in Program Files (typically C:\Program Files\Avira\Software Updater or similar paths).Affected if The application is installed on the system.
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Check installed version numberLocate the Software Updater executable (often named AviraSoftwareUpdater.exe or similar), right-click and view Properties, or use PowerShell to query the installed version from registry keys.Affected if The installed version is lower than 2.0.6.21094.
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Confirm the application runs with elevated privilegesCheck the service configuration using 'sc qc' command for the Avira Software Updater service, or view the service properties in services.msc to see the Log On account.Affected if The service runs as SYSTEM or LocalSystem account.
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Identify DLL load locationsUse a tool like Process Monitor to observe DLL loading behavior of the Avira Software Updater process, or inspect the application directory for DLL files that may be loaded without full path specification.Affected if The application loads DLLs from user-writable directories or directories without proper path validation.
You are affected if Avira Software Updater version is below 2.0.6.21094, runs with SYSTEM privileges, and loads DLLs from locations where an administrator could place a malicious file.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data2.0.6.21094
Upgrade to Avira Software Updater version 2.0.6.21094 or later, which should include proper DLL search path controls and secure DLL loading mechanisms.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-17449 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-17449 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data