CVE-2020-15024
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in the Login Password feature of the Password Manager component in Avast Antivirus 20.1.5069.562. An entered password continues to be stored in Windows main memory after a logout, and after a Lock Vault operation.
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 · high confidenceThe Avast Password Manager component fails to properly clear sensitive credential data from Windows main memory after logout or Lock Vault operations. Passwords remain in memory as plaintext, allowing potential extraction via memory forensics or malicious processes with sufficient 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= 20.1.5069.562CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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.
-
Verify Avast Antivirus is installedCheck for Avast installation via Registry key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Avast or inspect C:\Program Files\Avast Software directoryAffected if Avast Antivirus is not present on the system, then not affected
-
Retrieve installed Avast versionOpen Avast user interface and navigate to Menu > Settings > About, or run 'avast --version' from command line if avastcmd is availableAffected if version does not equal 20.1.5069.562 - compare your installed version against this specific release
-
Confirm Password Manager component presenceOpen Avast interface and look for Password Manager in the protection features, or check for 'Avast Passwords' component in Programs and FeaturesAffected if Password Manager component is not installed or visible in the Avast suite - the vulnerability only applies if this component is present
-
Verify usage of sensitive operationsReview system activity logs or user session records to determine if Password Manager was used to store or access credentialsAffected if Password Manager was never used - no sensitive data would have been in memory to remain uncleared
System is affected if Avast Antivirus version 20.1.5069.562 is installed with the Password Manager component enabled and that component has been used for credential management.
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 dataApply vendor patch from Avast when available. Until then, avoid using Password Manager on shared/high-risk systems, and consider restarting the application after sensitive operations to clear memory.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15024 — 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-2020-15024 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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