This vulnerability is a heap buffer out‑of‐bounds read in the Avira Antivirus engine when it processes a malformed Windows PE file. It can be leveraged by a local user to achieve code execution within the antivirus engine or to cause a denial of service by crashing the process. The weakness is a classic buffer read error, cataloged as CWE‑125.

Gen Digital Avira Antivirus products on Windows, macOS, and Linux that use engine builds older than 8.3.70.98 are vulnerable. Any installation running a pre‑8.3.70.98 build is at risk.

The CVSS score of 7.8 highlights a high severity for local users. The EPSS score is not available, and the issue is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, which suggests no current exploits are documented. The likely attack vector is local; a threat actor would need to place a crafted PE file on the system and trigger a scan. If successful, the engineer could execute arbitrary code or crash the antivirus, potentially reducing system security protections.