CVE-2023-1900 – A heap overflow vulnerability in Avira's networ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-1900?

CVE-2023-1900 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). A heap overflow vulnerability in Avira's network protection feature allows local attackers to cause denial-of-service through memory corruption. This affects Avira antivirus users with vulnerable versions installed. Attackers need local execution rights to exploit this vulnerability.

📋 TL;DR

A heap overflow vulnerability in Avira's network protection feature allows local attackers to cause denial-of-service through memory corruption. This affects Avira antivirus users with vulnerable versions installed. Attackers need local execution rights to exploit this vulnerability.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Avira Antivirus with network protection feature

Versions: Versions before Endpointprotection.exe 1.0.2303.633

Operating Systems: Windows

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects systems with Avira network protection enabled, which is typically enabled by default

📦 What is this software?

Antivirus by Avira

View all CVEs affecting Antivirus →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete system crash or antivirus service disruption leading to loss of protection and potential follow-on attacks

🟠

Likely Case

Antivirus service crash requiring system restart, temporary loss of endpoint protection

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact due to local-only exploitation requirement and antivirus self-protection mechanisms

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - Requires local execution rights, not directly exploitable over network

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Local attackers or malware with execution rights could disrupt antivirus protection

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: MEDIUM

Requires local execution rights and knowledge of heap manipulation techniques

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Endpointprotection.exe version 1.0.2303.633 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://support.norton.com/sp/static/external/tools/security-advisories.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open Avira Antivirus 2. Check for updates in settings 3. Install available updates 4. Restart computer when prompted

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable network protection temporarily

windows

Temporarily disable the vulnerable network protection feature until patching

Open Avira settings > Real-time protection > Disable 'Network protection'

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict local user privileges to prevent unauthorized code execution
Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized programs

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Avira version in settings or locate Endpointprotection.exe file, right-click > Properties > Details tab

Check Version:

wmic datafile where name="C:\\Program Files\\Avira\\Antivirus\\Endpointprotection.exe" get version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify Endpointprotection.exe version is 1.0.2303.633 or higher

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Avira service crashes
Unexpected memory access violations in Avira logs
Windows Event ID 1000 application crashes for Avira processes

Network Indicators:

None - local exploitation only

SIEM Query:

EventID=1000 AND SourceName="Application Error" AND ProcessName="Endpointprotection.exe"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-1900

CVSS v3 Score: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-190

Published: April 19, 2023

Last Updated: February 5, 2025

🔗 References

https://support.norton.com/sp/static/external/tools/security-advisories.html Third Party Advisory
https://support.norton.com/sp/static/external/tools/security-advisories.html Third Party Advisory

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