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Free AntivirusApplication · Avira

CVE-2020-8961

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.0.2004.1825 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
An issue was discovered in Avira Free-Antivirus before 15.0.2004.1825. The Self-Protection feature does not prohibit a write operation from an external process. Thus, code injection can be used to turn off this feature. After that, one can construct an event that will modify a file at a specific location, and pass this event to the driver, thereby defeating the anti-virus functionality.

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 confidence

The Self-Protection feature in Avira Free-Antivirus before version 15.0.2004.1825 fails to prohibit write operations from external processes. This allows an attacker to perform code injection to disable the self-protection mechanism, then modify files at specific locations to defeat the antivirus functionality.

MitigationUpgrade Avira Free-Antivirus to version 15.0.2004.1825 or later to obtain the patched self-protection mechanism that properly blocks external write operations.

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
Free AntivirusApplication
Affected:< 15.0.2004.1825

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check if Avira Free Antivirus is installed
    Open Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Avira\Avira Destop, or check for the presence of C:\Program Files\Avira\Antivirus\avguard.exe
    Affected if The registry key or executable file exists on the system
  2. Retrieve the installed Avira version number
    In Registry Editor, check the Version value under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Avira\Avira Destop, or right-click avguard.exe in C:\Program Files\Avira\Antivirus\ and view Properties > Details > File Version
    Affected if A version number is found in the registry or file properties
  3. Compare version against the patched release
    Compare the retrieved version number to 15.0.2004.1825 - the first version with the fixed self-protection mechanism. Versions are compared numerically by each octet (major.minor.build.revision)
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 15.0.2004.1825 (for example, 15.0.2003.1824 or earlier)
  4. Confirm the Self-Protection module is active
    Open Avira GUI > Protection > Security > Real-time protection, or run 'avguard.exe --help' from command line to verify the self-protection component is running
    Affected if The self-protection component is enabled and the version is below 15.0.2004.1825

A user is affected if Avira Free Antivirus is installed with a version lower than 15.0.2004.1825 and the Self-Protection feature is enabled.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 15.0.2004.1825 or later
Fixed in 15.0.2004.1825
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Avira Free-Antivirus to version 15.0.2004.1825 or later to obtain the patched self-protection mechanism that properly blocks external write operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Avira Free Antivirus 15.0.2004.1825 or later

  1. Navigate to the official Avira download page at https://www.avira.com/en/free-antivirus
  2. Download the latest version of Avira Free Antivirus
  3. Uninstall the current vulnerable version of Avira Free Antivirus
  4. Install the downloaded version 15.0.2004.1825 or later
  5. Verify the installed version by checking About/Support in the application to confirm it is 15.0.2004.1825 or higher

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Free Antivirus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2020-8961 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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