CVE-2022-44747 in Cyber Protect Home Office
Summary
by MITRE • 11/07/2022
Local privilege escalation due to improper soft link handling. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (Windows) before build 40107.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/05/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-44747 represents a critical local privilege escalation flaw affecting Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office version 40107 and earlier on Windows platforms. This vulnerability stems from improper handling of symbolic links during the installation or execution process, creating a path traversal condition that malicious actors can exploit to elevate their privileges from standard user to administrative level. The flaw specifically manifests in how the software processes soft links, failing to properly validate or sanitize symbolic link references that could point to arbitrary locations on the filesystem.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the application's failure to properly resolve symbolic links when processing installation files or system components. When a user with standard privileges executes certain operations within the affected software, the system may follow symbolic links without adequate validation, potentially allowing an attacker to redirect execution to malicious code located in privileged directories. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-367, which addresses Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) flaws, where the system's behavior changes between the time a security check is performed and when the operation is executed. The improper soft link handling creates an environment where attackers can manipulate the execution flow by controlling the target of symbolic links.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, as it provides a straightforward path for local attackers to gain administrative privileges on affected systems. Once exploited, the attacker can execute arbitrary code with elevated permissions, potentially leading to full system compromise, data exfiltration, or establishment of persistent backdoors. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users may have legitimate access to the affected software but should not possess administrative capabilities. The exploitability of this flaw is enhanced by the fact that it requires minimal privileges to initiate and can be automated through social engineering or other attack vectors that lead to user execution of the vulnerable software.
Security professionals should immediately implement mitigations including updating to the patched version of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office build 40107 or later, which addresses the symbolic link handling issue through proper validation and sanitization procedures. Organizations should also consider implementing additional controls such as restricting user privileges, monitoring for suspicious symbolic link creation, and conducting regular security assessments of installed software. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and secure coding practices, particularly when dealing with file system operations that involve symbolic links. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and could be leveraged as part of a broader attack chain involving initial access and persistence mechanisms. System administrators should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to prevent execution of unauthorized binaries that might be placed in locations accessible through the exploited symbolic link paths.