CVE-2024-13960
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 · uneditedLink Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in TuneUp Service in AVG TuneUp Version 23.4 (build 15592) on Windows 10 allows local attackers to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM via creating a symbolic link and leveraging a TOCTTOU (time-of-check to time-of-use) attack.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in AVG TuneUp's TuneUp Service where the service follows symbolic links without proper validation, combined with a TOCTTOU race condition. A local attacker can create a malicious symbolic link and win the race between the time the service checks a file and when it uses it, resulting in arbitrary code execution with SYSTEM privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify AVG TuneUp is installedCheck for AVG TuneUp in the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ or look in C:\Program Files\AVG\TuneUp or C:\Program Files (x86)\AVG\TuneUpAffected if AVG TuneUp is found on the system
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Confirm the TuneUp Service is runningOpen Services (services.msc) and locate 'AVG TuneUp Service' or run 'sc query TuneUp' from an elevated command promptAffected if The service exists and is in a running state
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Identify installed AVG TuneUp versionCheck the version in the program's properties (right-click the executable in Program Files > Properties > Details) or query the registry key for the DisplayVersion valueAffected if The installed version matches the affected version range for this CVE (compare your version to the vendor's advisory)
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Verify service runs with elevated privilegesRun 'sc qc TuneUp' (or the actual service name) to see the binary path, or use Task Manager to view the service's running accountAffected if The service runs as SYSTEM or another high-privilege account, making exploitation possible
A user is affected if AVG TuneUp is installed with the TuneUp Service running and the installed version falls within the vulnerable 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.
From vendor dataApply the vendor patch or upgrade AVG TuneUp to the latest version that addresses this vulnerability. If no patch is available, consider restricting write access to directories used by the TuneUp Service or temporarily disabling the service until a fix is released.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-13960 — 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-2024-13960 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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- 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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