CVE-2024-20506 | ClamAV Privilege Handling Escalation Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the ClamD service module of Clam AntiVirus (ClamAV) versions 1.4.0, 1.3.2 and prior versions, all 1.2.x versions, 1.0.6 and prior versions, all 0.105.x versions, all 0.104.x versions, and 0.103.11 and all prior versions could allow an authenticated, local attacker to corrupt critical system files. The vulnerability is due to allowing the ClamD process to write to its log file while privileged without checking if the logfile has been replaced with a symbolic link. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability if they replace the ClamD log file with a symlink to a critical system file and then find a way to restart the ClamD process. An exploit could allow the attacker to corrupt a critical system file by appending ClamD log messages after restart.

Published: 2024-09-04 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-20506 is rated Low Risk (32.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.32%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-20506

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.03% 0.32% +0.29%
2 2025-11-21 0.05% 0.03% -0.02%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.05% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-20506

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 4.2 [email protected]
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 4.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-20506

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-20506

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2024-20506: 1 source package rows (clamav); 7 state rows across 3 repos (3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 3, open 4. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2024-20506
debian not yet assigned CVE-2024-20506 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (clamav), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-20506
gentoo normal CVE-2024-20506: 1 GLSA(s) (202507-03), 1 atom(s) (app-antivirus/clamav); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2024-20506
suse medium CVE-2024-20506 severity moderate: SUSE including 52 source package names (clamav-0.103.12-150000.3.53.1, clamav-0.103.12-3.33.1, …), 250 product×package rows across 39 product lines (Image SLES12-SP5-SAP-Azure-LI-BYOS-Production, Image SLES12-SP5-SAP-Azure-VLI-BYOS-Production, … (39 product lines)): Fixed 250. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-20506/
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-20506 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (clamav), 10 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 9, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-20506

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-20506

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
clamav clamav < 0.103.12 cpe:2.3:a:clamav:clamav:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
clamav clamav >= 0.104.0, < 1.0.7 cpe:2.3:a:clamav:clamav:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
clamav clamav >= 1.2.0, < 1.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:clamav:clamav:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
clamav clamav 1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:clamav:clamav:1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-20506

cvelogic Threat Intelligence