# CVE-2020-8961: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Attackers can inject code to disable Avira's self-protection, allowing them to modify files and defeat antivirus functionality.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6h67-xpj8-pjh2

## What is CVE-2020-8961?

CVE-2020-8961 is a critical vulnerability in n/a, published on 9 Apr 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in Avira Free-Antivirus before 15.0.2004.1825. The Self-Protection feature does not prohibit a write operation from an external process. Thus, code injection can be used to turn off this feature. After that, one can construct an event that will modify a file at a specific location, and pass this event to the driver, thereby defeating the anti-virus functionality.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-8961?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Avira Free Antivirus.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-8961?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-8961 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-8961 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8961 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2019-18568](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18568/): Privilege escalation in Antivirus Free Antivirus (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2020-12680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12680/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-8961 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-8961 is a critical vulnerability in n/a, published on 9 Apr 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8961 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8961/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8961/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-8961
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-8961
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-8961

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8961/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.