Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-8351 is a high-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Gendigital (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-8351 is a heap-based buffer overflow and out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-122, CWE-125) in Avast Antivirus on macOS. The issue arises when the software scans a malformed file, potentially leading to local code execution or denial-of-service of the antivirus engine process. It affects Avast Antivirus versions from 8.3.70.94 before 8.3.70.98 and was published on 2025-12-01T16:15:57.857 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.0 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Attackers require no privileges or user interaction and can exploit the vulnerability over the network, though it demands high attack complexity. Successful exploitation grants high-impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability violations with a changed scope, enabling local code execution within the antivirus process or denial-of-service that disrupts the engine.
Gen Digital has published a security advisory with details on mitigation, available at https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/contact-us/security-advisories/. Users should update to Avast Antivirus version 8.3.70.98 or later to address the vulnerability.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-200023
Vulnerability Data
Heap-based Buffer Overflow, Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in Avira Antivirus engine when scanning a malformed file may allow Local Execution of Code or Denial-of-Service of the antivirus engine process. This issue affects Avira Antivirus on Windows, macOS, and Linux for engine…
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builds before 8.3.70.98.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.4.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and memory-error detectors) can discover heap overflows after they have been coded.
Input validation enforces bounds checking on data written to heap buffers, directly stopping the overflow condition from being introduced.
Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.
Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability of a heap overflow to execute attacker-controlled code or corrupt adjacent structures.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.
Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.
Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.
Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.