VulnerabilityPublished 6 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-80301: Gen Digital Avast Antivirus, Avast One, Avast Premium Security, Avast Ultimate · Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges

Affects Gen Digital Avast Antivirus, Avast One, Avast Premium Security, Avast UltimateSource CVE Database V5

Compare

Not known to be exploited.

Data as of 6 Nov 2026, 16:20 UTC

Severity

High

Rated High by Threat Radar's AI analysis · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Nov 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 6 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

cwe-653

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Gen DigitalAvast Antivirus, Avast One, Avast Premium Security, Avast Ultimate	Affected <26.7	Fixed in–
Gen DigitalAVG Antivirus Free, AVG Internet Security, AVG Ultimate	Affected <26.7	Fixed in–
Gen DigitalNorton Antivirus Plus, Norton 360 Standard, Norton 360 Deluxe, Norton 360 Advanced	Affected <26.7	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Until a fix is released, users should limit local access to trusted users and monitor for updates from Gen Digital regarding this vulnerability.

Description

CVE-2026-80301 is a vulnerability in Gen Digital's Avast Antivirus products where the sandbox on Windows improperly isolates COM interface access to the Task Scheduler service. This flaw allows a local, low-privileged attacker executing inside the sandbox to escape containment by scheduling and executing code with elevated privileges on the host system. The sandbox virtualizes file system and registry access but does not block the Task Scheduler COM pathway, enabling arbitrary code execution outside the sandbox boundaries.

Impact

An attacker with local, low-privileged access inside the Avast sandbox can bypass sandbox isolation and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on the host system. This undermines the security boundary intended by the sandbox and can lead to full system compromise if combined with other privilege escalation methods.

Summary

The vulnerability arises from improper isolation in the Avast sandbox on Windows platforms. While the sandbox virtualizes file system and registry access, it fails to restrict access to COM interfaces related to the Task Scheduler service. A low-privileged process running inside the sandbox can instantiate COM objects bound to Task Scheduler and invoke methods to schedule tasks on the host system. This allows the attacker to escape the sandbox containment and execute code with elevated privileges in the host security context. This sandbox escape can be chained with other privilege escalation techniques to compromise the host system.

CWE-280Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product does not handle or incorrectly handles when it has insufficient privileges to access resources or functionality as specified by their permissions. This may cause it to follow unexpected code paths that may leave the product in an invalid state.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
Implementation
Always check to see if you have successfully accessed a resource or system functionality, and use proper error handling if it is unsuccessful. Do this even when you are operating in a highly privileged mode, because errors or environmental conditions might still cause a failure.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Nov 2026, 16:20 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-280

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats