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AntivirusApplication · Avg

CVE-2024-7235

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
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
AVG AntiVirus Free Link Following Denial-of-Service Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to create a denial-of-service condition 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 create a folder. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to create a denial-of-service condition on the system. . Was ZDI-CAN-22803.

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 confidence

A symbolic link following vulnerability in AVG AntiVirus Free's service allows a local attacker with low-privileged code execution to create a symlink that the AVG service will follow, causing it to create folders in attacker-controlled locations and resulting in denial-of-service.

MitigationApply vendor patches when available; restrict file system permissions on AVG service directories to prevent unauthorized symlink creation; monitor for suspicious folder creation activities.

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:= 23.11.8635.809

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Verify AVG AntiVirus Free is installed
    Open Windows Settings > Apps > Apps & features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*AVG*"}' in PowerShell
    Affected if AVG AntiVirus Free is not listed in installed programs or registry uninstall keys
  2. Confirm installed version matches CVE affected version
    Check the AVG version: right-click the AVG icon in system tray > About, or open AVG > Menu > Settings > About, or run 'Get-ItemProperty "C:\Program Files\AVG\Antivirus\Setup.exe" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object VersionInfo
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 23.11.8635.809 (note: other versions may have similar vulnerabilities but this CVE specifically affects this version)
  3. Identify AVG service executable path
    Run 'Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*AVG*"}' then 'sc qc <serviceName>' to query service configuration, or check HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\* for AVG services
    Affected if An AVG service exists and runs from a writable directory path accessible to low-privileged users
  4. Check file system permissions on AVG installation directories
    Run 'icacls "C:\Program Files\AVG"' and review output for permissions granted to Users, Everyone, or non-admin groups
    Affected if Low-privileged users have permission to create files or symlinks in AVG service directories (this enables the symlink attack)
  5. Audit for suspicious newly created folders
    Review folder creation events in Windows Event Viewer under Security/Application logs, or use File Explorer search to find folders created in unexpected locations by AVG processes
    Affected if Folders are being created by AVG services in locations you did not authorize, indicating potential symlink exploitation

You are affected if AVG AntiVirus Free version 23.11.8635.809 is installed and low-privileged users can create symlinks in directories used by the AVG service, or if unauthorized folders appear in attacker-controlled locations.

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

Apply vendor patches when available; restrict file system permissions on AVG service directories to prevent unauthorized symlink creation; monitor for suspicious folder creation activities.

Fix this in Antivirus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2024-7235 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
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