CVE-2022-44744 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability identified in Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office for Windows versions prior to build 40107. The root cause of this vulnerability is DLL hijacking, classified under CWE-427, which occurs when an attacker places a malicious DLL in a location where the application loads it instead of the legitimate DLL. This can lead to the execution of arbitrary code with elevated privileges. Specifically, the vulnerability allows a user with limited privileges (local user) to escalate their privileges on the affected system. Exploitation requires local access and some user interaction, as indicated by the CVSS vector (User Interaction: Required). The attack complexity is high, meaning exploitation is not straightforward and may require specific conditions or knowledge. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality to a limited extent, with no direct impact on integrity or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches are explicitly linked in the provided data, though the vendor has presumably addressed the issue in builds after 40107. The vulnerability affects only the Windows version of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, a consumer and small business backup and cybersecurity product. Given the nature of DLL hijacking, the attacker must have the ability to place or influence DLL loading paths, which typically requires some level of access or social engineering to induce user interaction.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-44744 is generally limited due to its local scope and requirement for user interaction. However, organizations using Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office on Windows systems, especially in environments where endpoint security is critical, could face risks if an attacker gains local access. The vulnerability could allow an attacker to elevate privileges and potentially bypass security controls, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive backup data or system configurations. This could undermine the integrity of backup operations or expose confidential information. Although the CVSS score is low, in environments where endpoint devices are shared or less strictly controlled (e.g., remote workers, small offices), the risk could be higher. Additionally, if combined with other vulnerabilities or social engineering attacks, this could serve as a stepping stone for more severe compromises. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but organizations should remain vigilant given the widespread use of Acronis products in Europe.

1. Upgrade to the latest build of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (post build 40107) where the vulnerability is addressed. 2. Implement strict local user access controls and minimize the number of users with local login privileges on systems running Acronis software. 3. Employ application whitelisting and restrict DLL loading paths to trusted directories to prevent DLL hijacking. 4. Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for suspicious DLL loading behaviors or privilege escalation attempts. 5. Educate users on the risks of executing untrusted files or interacting with unexpected prompts, reducing the likelihood of successful user interaction exploitation. 6. Regularly audit installed software versions and patch status across endpoints to ensure timely remediation. 7. Consider isolating backup systems or running them with the least privileges necessary to limit the impact of potential exploitation.