GCVE Workshop - 22 September 2026 (14:00-18:00), Luxembourg Before The Vulnopticon Conference - Registration

CVE-2021-45338 (GCVE-0-2021-45338)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2021-12-27 12:53 – Updated: 2024-08-04 04:39
VLAI
Summary
Multiple privilege escalation vulnerabilities in Avast Antivirus prior to 20.4 allow a local user to gain elevated privileges by calling unnecessarily powerful internal methods of the main antivirus service which could lead to the (1) arbitrary file delete, (2) write and (3) reset security.
CWE
  • n/a
Show details on NVD website

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2024-08-04T04:39:20.481Z",
          "orgId": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "shortName": "CVE"
        },
        "references": [
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_refsource_MISC",
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_refsource_MISC",
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_refsource_MISC",
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_refsource_MISC",
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3"
          }
        ],
        "title": "CVE Program Container"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "product": "n/a",
          "vendor": "n/a",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "n/a"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Multiple privilege escalation vulnerabilities in Avast Antivirus prior to 20.4 allow a local user to gain elevated privileges by calling unnecessarily powerful internal methods of the main antivirus service which could lead to the (1) arbitrary file delete, (2) write and (3) reset security."
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "description": "n/a",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2021-12-27T12:53:00.000Z",
        "orgId": "8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca",
        "shortName": "mitre"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3"
        }
      ],
      "x_legacyV4Record": {
        "CVE_data_meta": {
          "ASSIGNER": "cve@mitre.org",
          "ID": "CVE-2021-45338",
          "STATE": "PUBLIC"
        },
        "affects": {
          "vendor": {
            "vendor_data": [
              {
                "product": {
                  "product_data": [
                    {
                      "product_name": "n/a",
                      "version": {
                        "version_data": [
                          {
                            "version_value": "n/a"
                          }
                        ]
                      }
                    }
                  ]
                },
                "vendor_name": "n/a"
              }
            ]
          }
        },
        "data_format": "MITRE",
        "data_type": "CVE",
        "data_version": "4.0",
        "description": {
          "description_data": [
            {
              "lang": "eng",
              "value": "Multiple privilege escalation vulnerabilities in Avast Antivirus prior to 20.4 allow a local user to gain elevated privileges by calling unnecessarily powerful internal methods of the main antivirus service which could lead to the (1) arbitrary file delete, (2) write and (3) reset security."
            }
          ]
        },
        "problemtype": {
          "problemtype_data": [
            {
              "description": [
                {
                  "lang": "eng",
                  "value": "n/a"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        "references": {
          "reference_data": [
            {
              "name": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0",
              "refsource": "MISC",
              "url": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0"
            },
            {
              "name": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1",
              "refsource": "MISC",
              "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1"
            },
            {
              "name": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2",
              "refsource": "MISC",
              "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2"
            },
            {
              "name": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3",
              "refsource": "MISC",
              "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca",
    "assignerShortName": "mitre",
    "cveId": "CVE-2021-45338",
    "datePublished": "2021-12-27T12:53:00.000Z",
    "dateReserved": "2021-12-20T00:00:00.000Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2024-08-04T04:39:20.481Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.1",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
      "cve": "CVE-2021-45338",
      "date": "2026-09-18",
      "epss": "0.00381",
      "percentile": "0.31927"
    },
    "fkie_nvd": {
      "configurations": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:avast:antivirus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "matchCriteriaId": "9530DCD6-2AE4-4E7E-A67A-5E5F87CE3DF3",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "20.4",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Multiple privilege escalation vulnerabilities in Avast Antivirus prior to 20.4 allow a local user to gain elevated privileges by calling unnecessarily powerful internal methods of the main antivirus service which could lead to the (1) arbitrary file delete, (2) write and (3) reset security."
        },
        {
          "lang": "es",
          "value": "M\u00faltiples vulnerabilidades de escalada de privilegios en Avast Antivirus versiones anteriores a 20.4, permiten a un usuario local alcanzar privilegios elevados al llamar a m\u00e9todos internos innecesariamente potentes del servicio antivirus principal, lo que podr\u00eda conllevar el (1) borrado arbitrario de archivos, (2) escritura y (3) restablecimiento de la seguridad"
        }
      ],
      "id": "CVE-2021-45338",
      "lastModified": "2024-11-21T06:32:06.587",
      "metrics": {
        "cvssMetricV2": [
          {
            "acInsufInfo": false,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "cvssData": {
              "accessComplexity": "LOW",
              "accessVector": "LOCAL",
              "authentication": "NONE",
              "availabilityImpact": "COMPLETE",
              "baseScore": 7.2,
              "confidentialityImpact": "COMPLETE",
              "integrityImpact": "COMPLETE",
              "vectorString": "AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C",
              "version": "2.0"
            },
            "exploitabilityScore": 3.9,
            "impactScore": 10.0,
            "obtainAllPrivilege": false,
            "obtainOtherPrivilege": false,
            "obtainUserPrivilege": false,
            "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
            "type": "Primary",
            "userInteractionRequired": false
          }
        ],
        "cvssMetricV31": [
          {
            "cvssData": {
              "attackComplexity": "LOW",
              "attackVector": "LOCAL",
              "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
              "baseScore": 7.8,
              "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
              "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
              "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
              "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
              "scope": "UNCHANGED",
              "userInteraction": "NONE",
              "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
              "version": "3.1"
            },
            "exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
            "impactScore": 5.9,
            "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
            "type": "Primary"
          }
        ]
      },
      "published": "2021-12-27T14:15:08.170",
      "references": [
        {
          "source": "cve@mitre.org",
          "tags": [
            "Exploit",
            "Third Party Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1"
        },
        {
          "source": "cve@mitre.org",
          "tags": [
            "Exploit",
            "Third Party Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2"
        },
        {
          "source": "cve@mitre.org",
          "tags": [
            "Exploit",
            "Third Party Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3"
        },
        {
          "source": "cve@mitre.org",
          "tags": [
            "Vendor Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0"
        },
        {
          "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "tags": [
            "Exploit",
            "Third Party Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1"
        },
        {
          "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "tags": [
            "Exploit",
            "Third Party Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2"
        },
        {
          "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "tags": [
            "Exploit",
            "Third Party Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3"
        },
        {
          "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "tags": [
            "Vendor Advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0"
        }
      ],
      "sourceIdentifier": "cve@mitre.org",
      "vulnStatus": "Modified",
      "weaknesses": [
        {
          "description": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "NVD-CWE-Other"
            }
          ],
          "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
          "type": "Primary"
        }
      ]
    },
    "nvd": {
      "cve": {
        "affected": [
          {
            "affectedData": [
              {
                "product": "n/a",
                "vendor": "n/a",
                "versions": [
                  {
                    "status": "affected",
                    "version": "n/a"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],
            "source": "cve@mitre.org"
          }
        ],
        "configurations": [
          {
            "nodes": [
              {
                "cpeMatch": [
                  {
                    "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:avast:antivirus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "matchCriteriaId": "9530DCD6-2AE4-4E7E-A67A-5E5F87CE3DF3",
                    "versionEndExcluding": "20.4",
                    "vulnerable": true
                  }
                ],
                "negate": false,
                "operator": "OR"
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "Multiple privilege escalation vulnerabilities in Avast Antivirus prior to 20.4 allow a local user to gain elevated privileges by calling unnecessarily powerful internal methods of the main antivirus service which could lead to the (1) arbitrary file delete, (2) write and (3) reset security."
          },
          {
            "lang": "es",
            "value": "M\u00faltiples vulnerabilidades de escalada de privilegios en Avast Antivirus versiones anteriores a 20.4, permiten a un usuario local alcanzar privilegios elevados al llamar a m\u00e9todos internos innecesariamente potentes del servicio antivirus principal, lo que podr\u00eda conllevar el (1) borrado arbitrario de archivos, (2) escritura y (3) restablecimiento de la seguridad"
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2021-45338",
        "lastModified": "2026-06-17T04:13:17.227",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV2": [
            {
              "acInsufInfo": false,
              "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
              "cvssData": {
                "accessComplexity": "LOW",
                "accessVector": "LOCAL",
                "authentication": "NONE",
                "availabilityImpact": "COMPLETE",
                "baseScore": 7.2,
                "confidentialityImpact": "COMPLETE",
                "integrityImpact": "COMPLETE",
                "vectorString": "AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C",
                "version": "2.0"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 3.9,
              "impactScore": 10.0,
              "obtainAllPrivilege": false,
              "obtainOtherPrivilege": false,
              "obtainUserPrivilege": false,
              "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
              "type": "Primary",
              "userInteractionRequired": false
            }
          ],
          "cvssMetricV31": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackVector": "LOCAL",
                "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "baseScore": 7.8,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
                "scope": "UNCHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
                "version": "3.1"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
              "impactScore": 5.9,
              "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
              "type": "Primary"
            }
          ]
        },
        "published": "2021-12-27T14:15:08.170",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "cve@mitre.org",
            "tags": [
              "Exploit",
              "Third Party Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1"
          },
          {
            "source": "cve@mitre.org",
            "tags": [
              "Exploit",
              "Third Party Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2"
          },
          {
            "source": "cve@mitre.org",
            "tags": [
              "Exploit",
              "Third Party Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3"
          },
          {
            "source": "cve@mitre.org",
            "tags": [
              "Vendor Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0"
          },
          {
            "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
            "tags": [
              "Exploit",
              "Third Party Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.1"
          },
          {
            "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
            "tags": [
              "Exploit",
              "Third Party Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.2"
          },
          {
            "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
            "tags": [
              "Exploit",
              "Third Party Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/the-deniss/Vulnerability-Disclosures/tree/main/CVE-2021-AVST1.3"
          },
          {
            "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
            "tags": [
              "Vendor Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://www.avast.com/hacker-hall-of-fame/en/researcher-david-eade-reports-antitrack-bug-to-avast-0"
          }
        ],
        "sourceIdentifier": "cve@mitre.org",
        "vulnStatus": "Modified",
        "weaknesses": [
          {
            "description": [
              {
                "lang": "en",
                "value": "NVD-CWE-Other"
              }
            ],
            "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
            "type": "Primary"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "redhat_vex": {
      "current_release_date": "2026-03-27T13:16:33+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2021-45338",
      "id": "CVE-2021-45338",
      "initial_release_date": "2021-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "1",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "CVE-2021-45338",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2021/cve-2021-45338.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.


Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Loading…

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

Loading…

Loading…

Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.


Loading…