CVE-2020-8109
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 · uneditedA vulnerability has been discovered in the ace.xmd parser that results from a lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a write past the end of an allocated buffer. This can result in denial-of-service. This issue affects: Bitdefender Engines version 7.84892 and prior versions.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the ace.xmd parser of Bitdefender Engines versions 7.84892 and prior. The parser fails to properly validate user-supplied data, allowing writes beyond the boundaries of an allocated buffer. This can trigger a denial-of-service condition.
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<= 7.84892CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Bitdefender installation existsCheck for Bitdefender installation directories (e.g., C:\Program Files\Bitdefender on Windows, /opt/Bitdefender on Linux) or look for bdagent, bdss, or vsserv processes runningAffected if Bitdefender software is not found on the system
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Locate Bitdefender Engine version fileNavigate to the Bitdefender installation directory and locate the engine version file. Common paths include: <install_dir>\plugins\engine\ or <install_dir>\bin\. Look for files named version.ver, engine.ver, or similar version indicator filesAffected if No version file is found in the expected locations
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Extract the engine version numberOpen the version file and read the numeric version string. On Windows, you may also check the Version attribute of bdagent.exe or bdss.exe in Task Manager, or run 'bdac.exe -v' if available from the installation bin folderAffected if The extracted version cannot be determined or read
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare the installed Bitdefender Engine version to 7.84892. If the version is 7.84892 or lower (e.g., 7.84400, 7.82000), the system falls within the affected rangeAffected if Installed version is 7.84892 or lower (e.g., 7.84892, 7.84000, 7.80000)
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Confirm ace.xmd parsing capability is activeVerify the Bitdefender scanning engine is functional and capable of parsing archive files. This is typically always enabled by default for real-time or on-demand scanning. Check scanning logs or settings to confirm archive parsing is not disabledAffected if Archive/zip parsing is completely disabled, which would also prevent legitimate scanning
If Bitdefender Engines version 7.84892 or lower is installed and archive parsing is enabled, the environment is vulnerable to the ace.xmd buffer overflow.
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 dataUpgrade Bitdefender Engines to a version newer than 7.84892 to address the vulnerability in the ace.xmd parser.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8109 — 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-2020-8109 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
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