CVE-2022-44733 in Cyber Protect Home Office
Summary
by MITRE • 11/07/2022
Local privilege escalation due to insecure folder permissions. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (Windows) before build 39900.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/05/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-44733 represents a critical local privilege escalation flaw affecting Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office versions prior to build 39900 on Windows systems. This issue stems from improper folder permissions that allow unauthorized local users to escalate their privileges and gain administrative access to the affected system. The vulnerability resides within the software's installation and runtime directory structures where insufficient access controls have been implemented, creating pathways for privilege abuse.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-276, which addresses incorrect permissions for critical resources, and specifically manifests as an insecure permissions issue in the Windows file system. The affected Acronis product fails to properly enforce access controls on its installation directories, allowing local users to modify or execute files with elevated privileges. This flaw operates under the principle that the software does not adequately validate file access permissions, enabling attackers to exploit these weaknesses to execute malicious code with higher privileges than initially granted.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-44733 extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it provides attackers with a persistent foothold within the compromised system. Once exploited, the vulnerability allows for complete system compromise, enabling attackers to install additional malware, modify system configurations, access sensitive data, and potentially establish backdoors for continued access. The vulnerability affects Windows environments where Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office is installed, making it particularly concerning for home users and small office environments where such security products are commonly deployed.
This vulnerability maps to several ATT&CK techniques including privilege escalation through access token manipulation and persistence mechanisms. The attack surface is particularly dangerous as it requires minimal privileges to exploit, making it attractive to attackers who may have initially gained access through other means. The exploitation process typically involves identifying writable directories within the Acronis installation path, creating or replacing executable files, and then executing these files with elevated privileges to achieve system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-44733 primarily involve immediate software updates to the latest build of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, which addresses the insecure folder permissions issue. System administrators should also implement proper access control lists on the Acronis installation directories, ensuring that only authorized users have write permissions to critical system folders. Additionally, regular security audits should verify that no unauthorized modifications have been made to the software installation directories, and monitoring should be implemented to detect suspicious file system changes in these locations. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper privilege separation and access control implementation in security software, as well as the necessity of regular patch management to address such critical issues.