CVE-2023-5760
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 time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) bug in handling of IOCTL (input/output control) requests. This TOCTOU bug leads to an out-of-bounds write vulnerability which can be further exploited, allowing an attacker to gain full local privilege escalation on the system.This issue affects Avast/Avg Antivirus: 23.8.
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 time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) vulnerability in Avast/Avg Antivirus version 23.8's IOCTL request handling creates a race condition window between validation and usage of data. An attacker can exploit this TOCTOU to trigger an out-of-bounds write, which can be chained to achieve full local privilege escalation.
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= 23.8CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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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Verify Avast or AVG Antivirus is installedCheck for Avast/AVG installation via Programs and Features, or scan the system for Avast/AVG executable files and servicesAffected if Avast or AVG Antivirus software is present on the system
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Determine the installed antivirus versionOpen the Avast/AVG user interface and navigate to Menu > Settings > About, or right-click the system tray icon and select 'About Avast' to view the exact version numberAffected if The displayed version number is exactly 23.8
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Confirm the antivirus core component is activeCheck if the Avast/AVG real-time protection service is running by opening Services.msc and looking for 'Avast Antivirus' or 'AVG Antivirus' services, or check if the avastsvc.exe/avg.exe process is running in Task ManagerAffected if The antivirus service or core process is actively running (the IOCTL vulnerability only applies when the driver/service is handling requests)
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Verify the specific build number (if available)In the About screen, note any additional build or revision numbers that accompany version 23.8; compare against any publicly disclosed build ranges for this CVEAffected if The build matches the exact vulnerable release (23.8)
You are affected if Avast or AVG Antivirus version 23.8 is installed and the antivirus service/driver is actively running, as the TOCTOU vulnerability exists in the IOCTL request handling of this specific version.
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 dataUpdate Avast/Avg Antivirus to the latest version incorporating the security fix; as a temporary measure, restrict local untrusted code execution where possible.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,656.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-5760 — 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-2023-5760 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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