CVE-2024-0799 is an authentication bypass vulnerability classified under CWE-287 affecting Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) versions 9.2 and 8.1. The vulnerability resides in the edge-app-base-webui.jar, specifically within the EdgeLoginServiceImpl.doLogin() method used by the wizardLogin functionality. This flaw allows an attacker to bypass authentication mechanisms without any credentials, user interaction, or prior access. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N), making it highly accessible to attackers. Successful exploitation grants full control over the affected UDP system, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of backup data and management functions. Given Arcserve UDP’s role in backup and disaster recovery, this could lead to data theft, ransomware deployment, or destruction of backups, severely impacting business continuity. The CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8 reflects the critical nature of this vulnerability. Although no public exploits are reported yet, the simplicity of exploitation and the critical impact make it a high-risk threat. Arcserve UDP is widely used in enterprise environments, including many European organizations, making this vulnerability a significant concern for data protection and IT resilience.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-0799 is severe. Arcserve UDP is a critical backup and disaster recovery solution used by enterprises, government agencies, and critical infrastructure providers. Exploitation could allow attackers to bypass authentication and gain full administrative access to backup systems, enabling theft or destruction of sensitive data, disruption of backup operations, and potential deployment of ransomware or other malware. This threatens data confidentiality, integrity, and availability, undermining compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations. The loss or corruption of backups could result in prolonged downtime and significant financial and reputational damage. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and public administration are particularly vulnerable due to their reliance on reliable backup solutions and regulatory requirements. The critical severity and ease of exploitation necessitate immediate risk mitigation to prevent potential widespread impact across European enterprises.

1. Apply patches or updates from Arcserve immediately once they are released to address CVE-2024-0799. Monitor vendor communications closely for official fixes. 2. Until patches are available, restrict network access to the Arcserve UDP management interface using firewalls, VPNs, or network segmentation to limit exposure to trusted administrators only. 3. Implement strict access controls and multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all management interfaces to reduce risk of unauthorized access. 4. Monitor logs and network traffic for unusual login attempts or suspicious activity targeting the UDP management services. 5. Conduct regular backups of backup configurations and store them securely offline to enable recovery if backups are compromised. 6. Review and harden the overall security posture of backup infrastructure, including limiting administrative privileges and enforcing least privilege principles. 7. Educate IT and security teams about this vulnerability and ensure incident response plans include scenarios involving backup system compromise. 8. Consider deploying intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) with signatures tuned to detect attempts to exploit authentication bypass vulnerabilities.