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Avira PrimeApplication · Avira

CVE-2023-51636

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2024-05-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.27.19 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
Avira Prime Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Avira Prime. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the Avira Spotlight Service. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the service to delete a file. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-21600.

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

The Avira Spotlight Service in Avira Prime contains a link following vulnerability that allows a local attacker with low-privileged code execution to create a symbolic link and abuse the service's file deletion functionality. This enables privilege escalation to SYSTEM context and execution of arbitrary code.

MitigationApply the vendor patch by updating Avira Prime to the latest version, or temporarily disable the Avira Spotlight Service if an update is not immediately available.

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
Avira PrimeApplication
Affected:< 6.27.19

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:3.0/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. Check if Avira Prime is installed
    Look for Avira installation directory at C:\Program Files\Avira\ or check registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Avira\Launcher in Windows Registry (regedit.exe)
    Affected if No Avira directory or registry key found means not applicable
  2. Find installed Avira Prime version
    Open Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Program Files\Avira\Launcher, right-click the main executable (e.g., Avira.ServiceHost.exe or similar .exe), select Properties, and check the Details tab for Product Version
    Affected if Version shown is less than 6.27.19 (e.g., 6.27.0, 6.26.x, etc.)
  3. Verify Avira Spotlight Service status
    Open Command Prompt and run: sc query AviraSpotlightService or use PowerShell: Get-Service -Name '*Spotlight*' | Select-Object Name, Status
    Affected if Service exists and shows as RUNNING - the vulnerability is exploitable if version is also below 6.27.19
  4. Confirm vulnerability condition
    Cross-reference the installed version from step 2 against the affected range: any version below 6.27.19 with the Spotlight Service running indicates the system is affected
    Affected if Installed version < 6.27.19 AND Avira Spotlight Service is running

System is affected only if Avira Prime is installed with a version lower than 6.27.19 AND the Avira Spotlight Service is currently running.

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 6.27.19 or later
Fixed in 6.27.19
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch by updating Avira Prime to the latest version, or temporarily disable the Avira Spotlight Service if an update is not immediately available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Avira Prime 6.27.19 or later

  1. Verify the current version of Avira Prime installed on the system
  2. Download Avira Prime version 6.27.19 or later from the official Avira website or your licensed download source
  3. Ensure you have appropriate administrative privileges to perform the upgrade
  4. Run the Avira Prime installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade
  5. Restart the system if prompted by the installer
  6. Verify the installed version is 6.27.19 or higher

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

Fix this in Avira Prime 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2023-51636 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