CVE-2022-44733 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability identified in Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office for Windows versions prior to build 39900. The root cause of this vulnerability is insecure folder permissions, which fall under the CWE-269 category (Improper Privilege Management). Specifically, the affected software improperly restricts access to certain folders, allowing a local user with limited privileges to escalate their rights to a higher privilege level. This can enable an attacker to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. The vulnerability requires local access, and user interaction is necessary, as indicated by the CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R). The CVSS v3.0 base score is 7.3, classifying it as a high-severity issue. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability presents a significant risk due to the critical nature of privilege escalation flaws and the widespread use of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office for backup and recovery purposes on Windows endpoints. The vulnerability affects only Windows installations of the product and is mitigated by applying updated builds or patches that correct folder permission settings to enforce the principle of least privilege.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a considerable risk, especially for enterprises and home users relying on Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office for data backup and recovery. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker with local access to elevate privileges, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification or deletion of backups, and disruption of backup services. This could result in data loss, operational downtime, and increased recovery costs. Organizations in sectors with strict data protection regulations such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure may face compliance violations and reputational damage if exploited. Additionally, since the vulnerability requires local access, it could be leveraged in multi-user environments or through other initial access vectors such as phishing or malware to gain higher privileges. The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high, as attackers could manipulate backup data or disable protection mechanisms, undermining the organization's resilience against ransomware and other cyber threats.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should: 1) Immediately update Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office to build 39900 or later, where folder permissions have been corrected. 2) Audit and enforce strict folder permission policies on systems running the affected software to ensure that only authorized users and system processes have access to critical directories. 3) Limit local user privileges by applying the principle of least privilege, reducing the number of users with local access rights that could exploit this flaw. 4) Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for unusual privilege escalation attempts and suspicious activities related to Acronis processes. 5) Educate users about the risks of local access vulnerabilities and enforce strong authentication mechanisms to prevent unauthorized physical or remote local access. 6) Regularly review and harden backup infrastructure configurations, ensuring backups are stored securely and protected against tampering. 7) Maintain up-to-date inventories of installed software versions to quickly identify and remediate vulnerable instances.