CVE-2025-7018
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 · uneditedNull pointer dereference vulnerability in Avira Antivirus engine when scanning a malformed Windows PE file may allow Denial-of-Service of the antivirus engine process. This issue affects Avira Antivirus on Windows, macOS, and Linux for engine builds before 8.3.70.64.
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 confidenceA null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the Avira Antivirus scanning engine that triggers when the engine processes a malformed Windows PE (Portable Executable) file. This causes the antivirus engine process to crash, resulting in denial of service. The vulnerability affects Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms for engine builds prior to version 8.3.70.64.
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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Avira Antivirus is installedCheck for Avira installation using system tools: on Windows, look for Avira in Program Files or check Add/Remove Programs; on macOS, check /Applications for Avira products; on Linux, check package manager listings for avira packages.Affected if Avira Antivirus is present on the system
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Locate the Avira scanning engine versionAccess the Avira product interface and navigate to Help > About, or check the engine version through the Avira Control Center/Console. The engine version is typically displayed as a build number in the format X.Y.Z.W.Affected if Unable to determine the engine version from the product interface
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Compare installed engine version to 8.3.70.64Note the displayed engine/build version number and compare it numerically to the threshold version 8.3.70.64. Versions earlier than 8.3.70.64 (such as 8.3.x.y or any version with a lower major.minor.build number) are in the vulnerable range.Affected if Installed engine version is less than 8.3.70.64 (for example, 8.3.69.15 or 8.2.x.x)
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Confirm real-time scanning is enabledIn the Avira product settings, verify that real-time protection (formerly called Real-Time Shield or On-Access Scanning) is turned on. The vulnerability triggers when the engine processes a malformed PE file during a scan.Affected if Real-time scanning or On-Access scanning is enabled and the engine version is below 8.3.70.64
The environment is affected if Avira Antivirus is installed with a scanning engine version earlier than 8.3.70.64 and real-time scanning or manual file scanning is active.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Avira Antivirus to engine version 8.3.70.64 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Organizations should verify current engine versions across all protected endpoints and apply the update through their existing Avira management infrastructure.
Avira Antivirus engine version 8.3.70.64 or later
- Open Avira Antivirus application on the affected system
- Navigate to the settings or update section of the application
- Check for engine updates or product updates
- Ensure the engine version is updated to 8.3.70.64 or later
- Verify the update was successful by checking the engine version in the application
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2025-7018 — 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-2025-7018 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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