CVE-2024-21364 in Azure Site Recovery
Summary
by MITRE • 02/13/2024
Microsoft Azure Site Recovery Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/04/2026
This vulnerability resides within Microsoft Azure Site Recovery service, which provides disaster recovery capabilities for virtual machines and physical servers in cloud environments. The flaw represents an elevation of privilege vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with specific permissions to escalate their access privileges within the Azure environment. The technical implementation involves improper access control mechanisms within the Site Recovery service components that govern how authorization checks are performed when processing administrative operations.
The underlying technical issue stems from inadequate validation of user permissions during critical administrative API calls within the Azure Site Recovery service. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious requests that bypass normal authorization checks, potentially gaining access to resources they should not be able to modify or control. This vulnerability specifically affects how the service validates credentials and permission levels when processing recovery operations, allowing attackers with basic user accounts to perform actions typically restricted to administrators or service operators.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it can enable attackers to compromise entire disaster recovery workflows within Azure environments. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially modify replication settings, access protected virtual machine configurations, or even manipulate backup operations that protect critical business data. This represents a significant threat vector for organizations relying on Azure Site Recovery for business continuity and disaster recovery planning, as the compromised privileges could lead to complete system compromise or data exposure.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically focusing on improper access control within cloud service components. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this under privilege escalation techniques, particularly T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation and T1531 Account Access Removal. Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected Azure Site Recovery implementations while implementing additional monitoring controls around administrative API calls and permission changes within their cloud environments.
Mitigation strategies include applying Microsoft's security updates promptly, implementing network segmentation to limit access to Site Recovery services, and establishing comprehensive monitoring for unusual administrative activity patterns. Security teams should also conduct thorough access control reviews to ensure least privilege principles are properly enforced, particularly for accounts with Site Recovery service permissions. Additional protective measures involve configuring Azure Activity Logs to track all administrative operations and implementing automated alerting for suspicious permission changes or elevated access attempts that might indicate exploitation of this vulnerability.
The broader implications suggest organizations need enhanced security controls around cloud service management interfaces, as this vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly isolated service components can create pathways for broader system compromise. Regular security assessments of cloud infrastructure configurations should include evaluation of access control mechanisms within all Azure services to identify similar weaknesses that could enable privilege escalation attacks.