A Local Privilege Escalation issue was discovered in Avast Secure Browser 76.0.1659.101. The vulnerability is due to an insecure ACL set by the AvastBrowserUpdate.exe (which is running as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM) when AvastSecureBrowser.exe checks for new updates. When the update check is triggered, the elevated process cleans the ACL of the Update.ini file in %PROGRAMDATA%\Avast Software\Browser\Update\ and sets all privileges to group Everyone. Because any low-privileged user can create, delete, or modify the Update.ini file stored in this location, an attacker with low privileges can create a hard link named Update.ini in this folder, and make it point to a file writable by NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. Once AvastBrowserUpdate.exe is triggered by the update check functionality, the DACL is set to a misconfigured value on the crafted Update.ini and, consequently, to the target file that was previously not writable by the low-privileged attacker.
This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from avast organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2020, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2020-01-27T16:15:11.220
2024-11-21T04:31:49.850
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 7.8 (HIGH)
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
3.9
10.0
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | avast | secure_browser | 76.0.1659.101 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For avast's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.