CVE-2024-55540

CVE-2024-55540 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability stemming from DLL hijacking, classified under CWE-427. It affects Acronis Cyber Protect 16 for Windows in versions prior to build 39169. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high potential impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

A local attacker with no required privileges can exploit this issue by leveraging user interaction, such as convincing a user to execute a specific action that loads a malicious DLL in a searchable path. Successful exploitation enables privilege escalation, allowing the attacker to gain elevated access on the system and potentially compromise sensitive data, modify critical files, or disrupt operations.

The Acronis security advisory SEC-2245, available at https://security-advisory.acronis.com/advisories/SEC-2245, details mitigation steps and patches. Affected installations should be updated to Acronis Cyber Protect 16 build 39169 or later to address the vulnerability.