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AntivirusApplication · Avast

CVE-2024-5102

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 24.2 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A sym-linked file accessed via the repair function in Avast Antivirus <24.2 on Windows may allow user to elevate privilege to delete arbitrary files or run processes as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. The vulnerability exists within the "Repair" (settings -> troubleshooting -> repair) feature, which attempts to delete a file in the current user's AppData directory as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. A low-privileged user can make a pseudo-symlink and a junction folder and point to a file on the system. This can provide a low-privileged user an Elevation of Privilege to win a race-condition which will re-create the system files and make Windows callback to a specially-crafted file which could be used to launch a privileged shell instance. This issue affects Avast Antivirus prior to 24.2.

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 Avast Antivirus repair feature (Settings -> Troubleshooting -> Repair) attempts to delete a file in the current user's AppData directory while running as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. A low-privileged attacker can exploit this by creating a pseudo-symlink and junction folder pointing to a target system file, winning a race condition to delete arbitrary files or execute code as SYSTEM.

MitigationUpdate Avast Antivirus to version 24.2 or later to obtain the vendor patch that addresses this vulnerability.

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
AntivirusApplication
Affected:< 24.2

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Avast Antivirus installation
    Check for Avast installation by inspecting registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Avast Software\Avast or by locating avastui.exe in Program Files
    Affected if Avast Antivirus is installed on the system
  2. Determine installed Avast version
    Query the registry value "Version" under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Avast Software\Avast, or right-click avastui.exe and view Properties > Details for Product Version
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 24.2 (for example, 23.x, 22.x, or earlier)
  3. Verify repair feature accessibility
    Open Avast user interface, navigate to Settings -> Troubleshooting and confirm the Repair option is present and accessible
    Affected if The repair feature exists in the installed version (this is true for all versions before 24.2)

A system is affected if Avast Antivirus is installed with a version lower than 24.2, as the vulnerable repair feature is present in those versions.

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 24.2 or later
Fixed in 24.2
Interim mitigation

Update Avast Antivirus to version 24.2 or later to obtain the vendor patch that addresses this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Avast Antivirus version 24.2 or later

  1. Open the Avast Antivirus application on the affected Windows system
  2. Navigate to Menu > Settings
  3. Go to the General tab and select Update
  4. Click the 'Check for updates' button to initiate the update process
  5. Wait for Avast to download and install version 24.2 or later
  6. Restart the computer if prompted to complete the installation
  7. Verify the installed version by going to Menu > Settings > About to confirm version 24.2 or higher is installed

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

Fix this in Antivirus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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-2024-5102 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