dbcve.org
Antivirus PlusApplication · Bitdefender

CVE-2022-0357

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.0.10.45 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Unquoted Search Path or Element vulnerability in the Vulnerability Scan component of Bitdefender Total Security, Bitdefender Internet Security, and Bitdefender Antivirus Plus allows an attacker to elevate privileges to SYSTEM. This issue affects: Bitdefender Total Security versions prior to 26.0.10.45. Bitdefender Internet Security versions prior to 26.0.10.45. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus versions prior to 26.0.10.45.

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

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Bitdefender Vulnerability Scan service where the executable path contains spaces and is not enclosed in quotes. An attacker with low-privilege access can place a malicious executable in an intermediate directory within the unquoted path (e.g., 'C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Some Tool\service.exe') which Windows will attempt to execute before the actual service binary, resulting in SYSTEM-level code execution.

MitigationApply vendor patch version 26.0.10.45 or later to Bitdefender Total Security, Internet Security, or Antivirus Plus installations to remediate the unquoted service path vulnerability.

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
Antivirus PlusApplication
Affected:< 26.0.10.45
Internet SecurityApplication
Affected:< 26.0.10.45
Total SecurityApplication
Affected:< 26.0.10.45

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Query the Bitdefender Vulnerability Scan service binary path
    Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run: sc qc "Vulnerability Scan" (or look for a service with 'Vulnerability' or 'Bitdefender' in the name using: sc queryex type= service state= all | findstr /i "vulnerability bitdefender")
    Affected if The displayed BINARY_PATH_NAME contains spaces and is not enclosed in quotation marks (e.g., C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Some Tool\service.exe instead of "C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Some Tool\service.exe")
  2. Identify installed Bitdefender product and version from registry
    Open Registry Editor and check: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ for a key with DisplayName containing "Bitdefender" (such as "Bitdefender Antivirus Plus", "Bitdefender Internet Security", or "Bitdefender Total Security"). Read the DisplayVersion value from that key.
    Affected if The DisplayVersion value is lower than 26.0.10.45 (e.g., 26.0.8.30, 25.0.x.x, etc.)
  3. Alternative version check via file properties
    Locate the main Bitdefender executable (typically in C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Bitdefender Security\ or C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\AntiVirus\), right-click the main .exe file, select Properties, and view the File version on the Details tab.
    Affected if The file version shown is lower than 26.0.10.45

The environment is affected if the Bitdefender Vulnerability Scan service has an unquoted binary path AND the installed Bitdefender product version is below 26.0.10.45.

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 26.0.10.45 or later
Fixed in 26.0.10.45
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patch version 26.0.10.45 or later to Bitdefender Total Security, Internet Security, or Antivirus Plus installations to remediate the unquoted service path vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

26.0.10.45

  1. Open Bitdefender application on the affected system
  2. Navigate to the Settings or Update section
  3. Check for updates and ensure the product is updated to version 26.0.10.45 or later
  4. Alternatively, download the latest installer from www.bitdefender.com and reinstall to ensure version 26.0.10.45 or later is installed
  5. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 26.0.10.45

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

Fix this in Antivirus Plus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,440
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-0357 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