CVE-2025-24827 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path or DLL Hijacking) affecting the Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent on Windows platforms prior to build 39378. The flaw allows a local attacker with limited privileges to escalate their privileges by exploiting the way the agent loads DLLs. Specifically, the software does not securely specify the full path when loading DLLs, enabling an attacker to place a malicious DLL in a location that the agent searches before the legitimate DLL. When the agent loads this malicious DLL, the attacker’s code executes with elevated privileges. The vulnerability requires local access and does not need user interaction, but the attacker must have at least low-level privileges on the system. The CVSS v3.0 score is 6.3 (medium severity) with vector AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N, indicating local attack vector, high attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, unchanged scope, and high impact on confidentiality and integrity but no impact on availability. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the vulnerability is recognized by CISA and assigned a CVE ID. The affected product is widely used in enterprise environments for cloud backup and protection, making this a significant concern for organizations relying on Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent for endpoint security and backup management.

The primary impact of this vulnerability is local privilege escalation, allowing an attacker with limited access to gain higher privileges, potentially SYSTEM or administrator level. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification or deletion of critical files, and the ability to disable or tamper with security controls. Although the vulnerability does not directly affect availability, the elevated privileges could be leveraged to disrupt services or deploy further malware. Organizations using Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent in their security infrastructure may face increased risk of insider threats or lateral movement by attackers who have gained initial foothold with low privileges. The compromise of backup and protection agents is particularly concerning as it may undermine the integrity of backup data and recovery processes, potentially leading to data loss or ransomware persistence. Given the medium severity and the requirement for local access, the threat is significant in environments where multiple users have local access or where endpoint security is critical.

Organizations should immediately verify the version of Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent deployed and plan to upgrade to build 39378 or later once available. Until patches are released, mitigate risk by restricting local user permissions to the minimum necessary, preventing untrusted users from writing to directories searched by the agent for DLLs. Implement application whitelisting and code integrity policies to block unauthorized DLLs from loading. Use tools like Microsoft’s Process Monitor to audit DLL loading behavior and detect suspicious activity. Network segmentation and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions can help identify attempts to exploit this vulnerability. Regularly review and harden system configurations to reduce attack surface, including disabling unnecessary local accounts and services. Educate administrators and users about the risks of local privilege escalation and enforce strong access controls. Monitor vendor advisories closely for official patches and apply them promptly to eliminate the vulnerability.