CVE-2021-22517 in Data Protector
Summary
by MITRE • 08/06/2021
A potential unauthorized privilege escalation vulnerability has been identified in Micro Focus Data Protector. The vulnerability affects versions 10.10, 10.20, 10.30, 10.40, 10.50, 10.60, 10.70, 10.80, 10.0 and 10.91. A privileged user may potentially misuse this feature and thus allow unintended and unauthorized access of data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/10/2021
The vulnerability CVE-2021-22517 represents a critical privilege escalation weakness within Micro Focus Data Protector software, a comprehensive data protection and backup solution widely deployed in enterprise environments. This flaw specifically targets versions 10.10 through 10.91 of the Data Protector suite, indicating a widespread impact across multiple major releases. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and improper privilege validation mechanisms that allow authenticated users to potentially escalate their privileges beyond their intended authorization levels. According to CWE-276, this issue manifests as improper privilege management, where the system fails to properly enforce access restrictions that should prevent users from accessing resources or performing actions outside their designated permissions. The vulnerability operates at the application level within the Data Protector framework, specifically affecting the authentication and authorization subsystems that govern user access to backup operations, configuration settings, and sensitive data repositories.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability enables a malicious or compromised privileged user to bypass normal security controls and gain unauthorized access to data that should remain restricted. This privilege escalation occurs through a flaw in the permission validation process where the system does not adequately verify user credentials or role-based access controls during critical operations. Attackers could potentially leverage this weakness to access backup data, modify backup configurations, or perform administrative functions that should be restricted to specific user roles. The impact extends beyond simple data access, as this vulnerability could enable attackers to manipulate backup schedules, alter restore points, or even delete critical backup data, severely compromising the integrity and availability of enterprise backup systems. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and privilege escalation through legitimate system access, making it particularly dangerous in environments where privileged accounts are commonly used and monitored.
The operational implications of CVE-2021-22517 are severe for organizations relying on Micro Focus Data Protector for their data protection strategies. Enterprises that have not patched this vulnerability face significant risk of data breaches, compliance violations, and potential regulatory penalties. The vulnerability's impact is amplified in environments where Data Protector serves as the primary backup solution for critical business data, as unauthorized access to backup repositories could result in data loss, unauthorized data modification, or complete system compromise. Organizations with multiple privileged users, such as system administrators, backup operators, or database administrators, are particularly vulnerable since any compromised account could be exploited to gain broader access to the backup infrastructure. The vulnerability affects the core data protection capabilities of the system, potentially rendering backup and recovery operations ineffective while simultaneously exposing sensitive organizational data. Security teams must consider this vulnerability as a high-priority threat that could enable attackers to gain persistent access to critical backup infrastructure while maintaining operational stealth. Mitigation efforts should focus on immediate patch deployment, comprehensive access control reviews, and implementation of additional monitoring controls to detect unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. The vulnerability's presence in multiple major releases underscores the importance of maintaining current security patches and implementing robust security monitoring to detect and respond to potential exploitation attempts.