# CVE-2023-1586: Race condition in AVG Antivirus

> A TOCTOU race condition in the restore process allows attackers to create arbitrary files, potentially leading to code execution on Windows systems.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 5 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h5r6-2gq4-p8x5

## What is CVE-2023-1586?

CVE-2023-1586 is a medium-severity vulnerability in AVG Antivirus, published on 19 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Avast and AVG Antivirus for Windows were susceptible to a Time-of-check/Time-of-use (TOCTOU)  vulnerability in the restore process leading to arbitrary file creation. The issue was fixed with Avast and AVG Antivirus version 22.11

Weakness: CWE-367 (Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-1586?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Avast Antivirus, Avg Anti-Virus.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-1586?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-1586 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-1586 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-1586 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in AVG Antivirus

- [CVE-2025-13032](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-13032/): Race condition in (Free/Inernet Security/Ultimate) Antivirus (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2020-10867](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10867/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-8307](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8307/): Missing authorization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-3500](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-3500/): Integer Overflow in Avast Antiviurs 25.1.981.6 on Windows may result in privilege escalation (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2021-45335](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45335/): Missing authorization in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-1586 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-1586 is a medium-severity vulnerability in AVG Antivirus, published on 19 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-1586 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: AVG Antivirus. 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-2023-1586/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-1586/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-1586
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-1586
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-1586

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-1586/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.