CVE-2022-4173

Privilege escalation via undisclosed malware-removal flaw

Published Dec 5, 2022 · Updated Apr 14, 2025

Improper privilege management in Avast and AVG Antivirus for Windows 20.5 through 22.9 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. Gen Digital has not disclosed which malware-removal code locus or filesystem operation mishandles attacker-writable content. Exploitation requires filesystem write access and user interaction, and successful exploitation grants higher privileges on the Windows host.

CVSS severity7.3
High
EPSS probability0.70%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper privilege management in Avast and AVG Antivirus for Windows 20.5 through 22.9 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. Gen Digital has not disclosed which malware-removal code locus or filesystem operation mishandles attacker-writable content. Exploitation requires filesystem write access and user interaction, and successful exploitation grants higher privileges on the Windows host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-4173
Published
Dec 5, 2022
Updated
Apr 14, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-269, CAPEC-233, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 5, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 14, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.3NortonLifeLock Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
CAPEC-233Privilege Escalation
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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