CVE-2022-24115 in Cyber Protect Home Office
Summary
by MITRE • 02/05/2022
Local privilege escalation due to unrestricted loading of unsigned libraries. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (macOS) before build 39605, Acronis True Image 2021 (macOS) before build 39287
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/11/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-24115 represents a critical local privilege escalation flaw affecting macOS versions of Acronis cybersecurity products. This issue stems from improper library loading mechanisms that fail to validate the authenticity and integrity of dynamically loaded components. The vulnerability specifically impacts Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office versions prior to build 39605 and Acronis True Image 2021 versions prior to build 39287, creating a persistent security risk for users of these backup and recovery solutions. The flaw allows malicious actors to escalate privileges from standard user level to administrative access through manipulation of the application's library loading process.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the application's failure to implement proper code signing verification and library integrity checks during runtime. When the affected Acronis applications execute, they load shared libraries from potentially untrusted locations without verifying their digital signatures or ensuring they originate from legitimate sources. This unrestricted loading behavior creates a pathway for attackers to substitute legitimate system libraries with malicious counterparts, effectively bypassing the operating system's security mechanisms. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element, where the application's search path includes directories that can be manipulated by unprivileged users, and CWE-428 Untrusted Search Path, which occurs when an application uses a search path that includes untrusted directories.
The operational impact of this privilege escalation vulnerability is severe and multifaceted. An attacker with local user access can leverage this flaw to gain root privileges, enabling them to modify system files, install persistent backdoors, access encrypted backups, and potentially compromise the entire system. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of backup and recovery software, which typically requires elevated permissions to operate effectively. This creates a particularly dangerous scenario where an attacker can not only escalate privileges but also potentially access sensitive backup data that may contain critical system information, user credentials, or corporate data. The attack surface is further expanded because these backup applications often have broad system access permissions and may be running with elevated privileges to perform their core functions.
From an adversary perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to several ATT&CK techniques including privilege escalation through exploitation of software vulnerabilities and persistence mechanisms. The attacker can exploit this vulnerability to establish a foothold with elevated privileges and then use the backup application's access to potentially exfiltrate sensitive data or deploy additional malicious payloads. The mitigation strategy should focus on immediate patching of affected versions to address the library loading mechanism and implement proper code signing validation. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as application whitelisting, monitoring for unauthorized library loading activities, and ensuring that backup applications are running with the minimal required privileges. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of secure coding practices and proper library management in preventing privilege escalation attacks, particularly in security software that inherently requires elevated system access for its legitimate operations.