CVE-2023-44153 in Cyber Protect
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
Sensitive information disclosure due to cleartext storage of sensitive information in memory. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect 15 (Linux, macOS, Windows) before build 35979.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2023
This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in Acronis Cyber Protect 15 where sensitive information is stored in cleartext format within system memory. The issue stems from improper handling of confidential data during processing and storage operations, creating an attack surface that allows unauthorized access to potentially sensitive credentials or authentication tokens. The vulnerability affects multiple operating systems including Linux, macOS, and Windows platforms, indicating a widespread impact across the product ecosystem. Security researchers identified this weakness through memory analysis techniques that revealed plaintext storage of authentication data, configuration parameters, or cryptographic keys within the application's memory space.
The technical implementation flaw manifests when the software processes user authentication requests or manages system credentials, storing these sensitive elements in unencrypted form within the application's memory segments. This cleartext storage approach violates fundamental security principles for handling sensitive data, as any process with memory access privileges can directly extract this information without requiring additional authentication or cryptographic decryption. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the memory level rather than through network protocols or file system access, making it difficult to detect through traditional network monitoring or file access controls. Attackers could exploit this weakness through various methods including direct memory dumping techniques, process injection attacks, or by leveraging other vulnerabilities that provide memory access capabilities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to potentially enable full system compromise. When sensitive authentication data exists in cleartext memory, attackers can leverage this information to impersonate legitimate users, gain unauthorized access to protected systems, or escalate privileges within the affected environment. This weakness creates a persistent threat vector that remains active as long as the vulnerable process is running, allowing attackers to maintain access even after initial exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's presence in multiple operating systems suggests that attackers could target any platform where Acronis Cyber Protect 15 is deployed, potentially affecting enterprise environments, cloud infrastructure, or hybrid computing environments that rely on this backup and security solution. Organizations using affected versions face significant risk of credential theft, unauthorized system access, and potential data breaches that could compromise entire network infrastructures.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to build 35979 or later versions of Acronis Cyber Protect 15 to remediate this vulnerability. System administrators should implement additional monitoring for suspicious memory access patterns and consider deploying memory protection mechanisms such as address space layout randomization or data execution prevention controls. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-312 (Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information) and represents a direct violation of NIST SP 800-53 security controls related to data protection and access control. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques such as T1003 (OS Credential Dumping) and T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS) where attackers could use the cleartext credentials to establish persistence or move laterally within networks. Security teams should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of their environments to identify any systems running vulnerable versions and implement memory protection measures as interim safeguards while deploying the official patches.