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Improper Certificate ValidationWeakness · CWE-295

CVE-2024-13990

CRITICAL · 9.3 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-09-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
MicroWorld eScan AV's update mechanism failed to ensure authenticity and integrity of updates: update packages were delivered and accepted without robust cryptographic verification. As a result, an on-path attacker could perform a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack and substitute malicious update payloads for legitimate ones. The eScan AV client accepted these substituted packages and executed or loaded their components (including sideloaded DLLs and Java/installer payloads), enabling remote code execution on affected systems. MicroWorld eScan confirmed remediation of the update mechanism on 2023-07-31 but versioning details are unavailable. NOTE: MicroWorld eScan disputes the characterization in third-party reports, stating the issue relates to 2018–2019 and that controls were implemented then.

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

MicroWorld eScan AV's update mechanism lacked cryptographic verification, allowing a man-in-the-middle attacker to intercept and replace legitimate update packages with malicious payloads. The vulnerable client would accept and execute these crafted updates including sideloaded DLLs and Java/installer components, achieving remote code execution on the target system.

MitigationEnsure eScan AV is updated to the patched version released on or after 2023-07-31. Verify that update channel communications occur over TLS and that update package signatures are validated before execution.

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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. Confirm eScan AV installation
    Check for eScan AV installed on the system. Common locations: Program Files\eScan or Program Files (x86)\eScan. On Windows, use Programs and Features or wmic product list.
    Affected if eScan AV is present on the system
  2. Identify installed eScan AV version
    Open eScan AV interface and navigate to Help > About, or check the version in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\MicroWorld or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MicroWorld, or examine the executable file properties of the main eScan executable.
    Affected if Unable to determine version or version cannot be verified
  3. Compare version against patched release
    Cross-reference the installed version/build number with releases after July 2023. Look for version information indicating updates post-2023-07-31. If version history is available from MicroWorld, verify the specific build includes the cryptographic fix.
    Affected if Installed version predates July 31, 2023 or version cannot be confirmed as patched
  4. Verify update mechanism configuration
    Within eScan AV settings, examine the update configuration. Check if the update source uses HTTPS and if certificate validation is enabled. Look for settings related to 'Update Server' or 'Update Source' in the preferences.
    Affected if Update mechanism uses unencrypted HTTP or certificate validation is disabled or not configurable

The environment is affected if eScan AV is installed with a version predating the July 2023 security update and the update mechanism is not configured with proper cryptographic validation.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Ensure eScan AV is updated to the patched version released on or after 2023-07-31. Verify that update channel communications occur over TLS and that update package signatures are validated before execution.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,030
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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-2024-13990 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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