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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2020-3481

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.102.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
A vulnerability in the EGG archive parsing module in Clam AntiVirus (ClamAV) Software versions 0.102.0 - 0.102.3 could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to a null pointer dereference. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted EGG file to an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause the ClamAV scanning process crash, resulting in a denial of service condition.

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 confidence

A null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the EGG archive parsing module of ClamAV versions 0.102.0 through 0.102.3. When the antivirus engine processes a specially crafted EGG archive file, it attempts to dereference a null pointer, causing the scanning process to crash and resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade ClamAV to version 0.102.4 or later to patch the vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider disabling EGG archive scanning or implementing file-type blocking for EGG attachments at the email gateway or proxy level.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 16.04= 18.04= 20.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 31= 32
ClamavApplication
Affected:>= 0.102.0, <= 0.102.3

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify ClamAV is installed and get version
    Run `clamd --version` or `clamscan --version` to obtain the installed ClamAV version
    Affected if The version displayed falls within the range 0.102.0 to 0.102.3 (inclusive)
  2. Confirm the specific ClamAV package version
    Check the package manager output: on Debian/Ubuntu run `dpkg -l | grep clamav` or on Fedora run `rpm -qa | grep clamav`
    Affected if The installed package version matches >= 0.102.0 and <= 0.102.3
  3. Check if EGG archive support is enabled in ClamAV configuration
    Inspect the ClamAV configuration files (typically /etc/clamav/clamd.conf or /etc/clamav/freshclam.conf) for directives that enable EGG archive scanning, such as `ScanEGG` or `LibEGG` options
    Affected if EGG archive scanning is explicitly enabled in the configuration file
  4. Verify clamd daemon or clamscan binary is in use for archive scanning
    Check if clamd is running (`ps aux | grep clamd`) or if clamscan is used in automated scans, as the vulnerability triggers during EGG archive processing
    Affected if ClamAV scanning daemon or scanner is actively processing or capable of processing EGG archives

You are affected if ClamAV version 0.102.0 through 0.102.3 is installed AND EGG archive scanning support is enabled in the ClamAV configuration, allowing specially crafted EGG files to trigger the null pointer dereference during scanning.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 0.102.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade ClamAV to version 0.102.4 or later to patch the vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider disabling EGG archive scanning or implementing file-type blocking for EGG attachments at the email gateway or proxy level.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-3481 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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