CVE-2024-7234
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 · uneditedAVG AntiVirus Free AVGSvc Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of AVG AntiVirus Free. 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 AVG 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-22260.
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 confidenceThe AVG Service (AVGSvc) in AVG AntiVirus Free contains a symlink following vulnerability that allows local attackers to delete arbitrary files by creating a malicious symbolic link. An attacker with low-privileged code execution can exploit this to delete security-critical files or perform privilege escalation to execute arbitrary code in SYSTEM context.
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= 23.9.8494.795CVSS 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 AntiVirus installationCheck for AVG installation by looking for the program in Add/Remove Programs, or check for the AVG installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\AVG\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\AVG\). Also check Windows Services for a service named 'AVG Service' or 'AVGSvc'.Affected if AVG AntiVirus Free is installed and the version matches 23.9.8494.795
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Confirm the exact AVG versionOpen AVG AntiVirus, navigate to Menu > About, or right-click the AVG icon in the system tray and select About. Alternatively, check the Windows Programs and Features list to view the installed version.Affected if The installed version is exactly 23.9.8494.795 (this specific build is affected)
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Verify AVGSvc service statusOpen Services (services.msc), locate the 'AVG Service' or 'AVGSvc' entry, and confirm it is in a Running state. Note the account it runs under (typically LocalSystem or a service account).Affected if The AVGSvc service is installed and running, as the vulnerability is in this service component
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Check directory permissions where AVG writes temp filesInspect directories where AVG service creates temporary files (commonly %TEMP%, %PROGRAMDATA%\AVG\, or subdirectories under the AVG installation folder). Right-click each directory, go to Properties > Security, and review which users have Write permissions.Affected if Low-privileged users have Write permissions to directories accessed by the AVG service, enabling them to create malicious symbolic links in those locations
You are affected if AVG AntiVirus Free version 23.9.8494.795 is installed and the AVGSvc service is running, with low-privileged users having Write access to directories used by the service for temporary file operations.
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 vendor patches for AVG AntiVirus Free when available. As an interim measure, restrict write permissions for low-privileged users to directories accessed by the AVG service to prevent symlink creation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-7234 — 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-2024-7234 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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