CVE-2000-0224 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the ARCserve agent on SCO UnixWare versions 7.1 and 7.1.1. The vulnerability arises due to improper handling of symbolic links (symlinks) by the ARCserve agent, which allows a local attacker to exploit a symlink attack to gain root privileges. Specifically, the ARCserve agent fails to securely manage file operations involving symlinks, enabling an attacker with local access to create or manipulate symlinks that point to sensitive system files or executables. When the ARCserve agent subsequently operates on these symlinks, it inadvertently grants elevated privileges to the attacker by overwriting or executing files with root permissions. This vulnerability requires local access to the system and is difficult to exploit due to the need for high attack complexity and no authentication requirement. The CVSS v2 score is 1.2, reflecting a low severity primarily because it requires local access and has high attack complexity, with no direct impact on confidentiality or availability but potential impact on integrity through unauthorized privilege escalation. No patches are available for this vulnerability, and there are no known exploits in the wild, indicating limited active threat. However, the vulnerability remains a risk on unpatched SCO UnixWare 7.x systems where ARCserve agent is installed and used.

For European organizations still operating legacy SCO UnixWare 7.x systems with the ARCserve agent installed, this vulnerability could allow a local attacker—such as a disgruntled employee or someone with limited system access—to escalate privileges to root. This could lead to unauthorized modification of system files, installation of persistent backdoors, or disruption of backup and recovery processes managed by ARCserve. Although the vulnerability requires local access and has high attack complexity, the impact on system integrity is significant if exploited. Given the age of the affected systems, most modern European enterprises are unlikely to be affected; however, critical infrastructure or industrial environments that rely on legacy UnixWare systems might face risks. The lack of a patch means organizations must rely on compensating controls to mitigate risk. The vulnerability does not affect confidentiality or availability directly but compromises system integrity, which can indirectly affect availability if system components are altered or disabled.

Since no official patch is available, European organizations should implement strict access controls to limit local user access to SCO UnixWare 7.x systems running the ARCserve agent. This includes enforcing the principle of least privilege, ensuring only trusted administrators have local login rights. Monitoring and auditing local user activities can help detect suspicious behavior indicative of privilege escalation attempts. Organizations should consider isolating legacy UnixWare systems from broader network access to reduce the risk of unauthorized local access. If possible, migrating backup operations from ARCserve on UnixWare 7.x to modern, supported platforms is strongly recommended. Additionally, system hardening measures such as disabling unnecessary services, restricting file system permissions, and employing host-based intrusion detection systems can provide additional layers of defense. Regular security assessments and penetration testing focused on local privilege escalation vectors should be conducted to identify and remediate potential exploitation paths.