CVE-2024-13990: MicroWorld Technologies eScan AV · Improper Certificate Validation
Affects MicroWorld Technologies eScan AVSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.3 Critical.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 49% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 19 Sep 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| MicroWorld Technologies eScan AV | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
Organizations should immediately verify that their eScan AV installations are updated to the latest version where the update mechanism vulnerability has been remediated, as confirmed by MicroWorld in July 2023. Since detailed patch versioning is unavailable, direct communication with MicroWorld support is recommended to confirm patch status. Network-level mitigations include enforcing strict TLS inspection and certificate pinning where possible to detect and block MitM attempts on update traffic. Deploy network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) tuned to identify anomalous update package signatures or unexpected DLL loads. Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized binaries and monitor endpoint behavior for suspicious activity indicative of malicious update execution. Additionally, segment networks to limit the spread of potential compromises and maintain robust backup and recovery procedures. Regularly audit antivirus update logs and network traffic to ensure update integrity. Finally, educate security teams about this specific threat to enhance detection and response capabilities.
Description
MicroWorld eScan AV's update mechanism failed to ensure authenticity and integrity of updates: update packages were delivered and accepted without robust cryptographic verification. As a result, an on-path attacker could perform a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack and substitute malicious update payloads for legitimate ones. The eScan AV client accepted these substituted packages and executed or loaded their components (including sideloaded DLLs and Java/installer payloads), enabling remote code execution on affected systems. MicroWorld eScan confirmed remediation of the update mechanism on 2023-07-31 but versioning details are unavailable. NOTE: MicroWorld eScan disputes the characterization in third-party reports, stating the issue relates to 2018–2019 and that controls were implemented then.
References
- blog.avast.com/leading-the-charge-against-guptiminer (opens in a new tab)
- gendigital.com/blog/insights/research/guptiminer-hijacking-antivirus-updates-for-distributing-backdoors-and-casual-mining (opens in a new tab)
- securityaffairs.com/162228/breaking-news/escan-antivirus-mitm-attack.html (opens in a new tab)
- arstechnica.com/security/2024/04/hackers-infect-users-of-antivirus-service-that-delivered-updates-over-http/ (opens in a new tab)
- bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-hijack-antivirus-updates-to-drop-guptiminer-malware/ (opens in a new tab)
- thehackernews.com/2024/04/escan-antivirus-update-mechanism.html (opens in a new tab)
- escanav.com/en/about-us/eScan-update-advisory.asp (opens in a new tab)
- vulncheck.com/advisories/microworld-escan-av-insecure-update-mechanism-allows-mitm-replacement-of-updates (opens in a new tab)