NULL Pointer DereferenceWeakness · CWE-476

CVE-2025-7018

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
Null 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 confidence

A 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.

MitigationUpgrade 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.

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 checks

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

  1. Verify Avira Antivirus is installed
    Check 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
  2. Locate the Avira scanning engine version
    Access 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
  3. Compare installed engine version to 8.3.70.64
    Note 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)
  4. Confirm real-time scanning is enabled
    In 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.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade 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.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Avira Antivirus engine version 8.3.70.64 or later

  1. Open Avira Antivirus application on the affected system
  2. Navigate to the settings or update section of the application
  3. Check for engine updates or product updates
  4. Ensure the engine version is updated to 8.3.70.64 or later
  5. 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.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2025-7018 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