CVE-2022-4173
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 within the malware removal functionality of Avast and AVG Antivirus allowed an attacker with write access to the filesystem, to escalate his privileges in certain scenarios. The issue was fixed with Avast and AVG Antivirus version 22.10.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the malware removal functionality of Avast and AVG Antivirus. An attacker with filesystem write access can leverage certain scenarios in the malware removal process to elevate their privileges. This is a local-only attack requiring prior filesystem access.
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>= 20.5, <= 22.9>= 20.5, <= 22.9CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Avast or AVG Antivirus productCheck for Avast or AVG Antivirus installation via program files directory, installed programs list, or running 'Get-ItemProperty' on registry keys HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* for DisplayName containing 'Avast' or 'AVG'Affected if No Avast or AVG Antivirus software is found on the system, the user is not affected by this CVE as the vulnerability only exists in those specific products
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Determine installed version of Avast AntivirusRun 'avccmd.exe /?' or check C:\Program Files\Avast\avast.ini for version information, or use 'Get-ItemProperty' on the uninstall registry key for Avast to read the DisplayVersionAffected if The installed version falls within the range 20.5 through 22.9 (inclusive)
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Determine installed version of AVG AntivirusCheck C:\Program Files\AVG\Antivirus\setup.ini or use 'Get-ItemProperty' on the uninstall registry key for AVG to read the DisplayVersionAffected if The installed version falls within the range 20.5 through 22.9 (inclusive)
The system is affected if Avast Antivirus or AVG Antivirus is installed with a version between 20.5 and 22.9 inclusive, as the privilege escalation vulnerability exists only within this specific version range.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate Avast or AVG Antivirus to version 22.10 or later to remediate the vulnerability. Organizations should prioritize patching endpoint protection software given the high CVSS score and the potential for privilege escalation.
Avast/AVG Antivirus version 22.10 or later
- Upgrade Avast Antivirus from any version between 20.5 and 22.9 to version 22.10 or later
- Upgrade AVG Antivirus from any version between 20.5 and 22.9 to version 22.10 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the installed version in the application settings
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-4173 — 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-2022-4173 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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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
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