CVE-2025-24830 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability identified in the Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent for Windows, specifically affecting versions before build 39378. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of DLL loading paths, categorized under CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path). This weakness allows an attacker with local access to the system to exploit DLL hijacking by placing a malicious DLL in a location that the vulnerable application searches before the legitimate DLL. When the agent loads this malicious DLL, the attacker can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially gaining SYSTEM-level access. Since the vulnerability requires local access, exploitation typically involves an attacker who has already compromised a lower-privileged user account or has physical or remote desktop access. The absence of known exploits in the wild suggests that this vulnerability has not yet been actively weaponized, but the risk remains significant due to the potential for privilege escalation. The Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent is widely used for backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection in enterprise environments, making this vulnerability relevant for organizations relying on this software for critical data protection and security operations. The lack of an official patch at the time of reporting indicates that mitigation must rely on interim controls until an update is released.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-24830 can be substantial. Successful exploitation allows attackers to escalate privileges locally, which can lead to full system compromise, unauthorized access to sensitive data, and disruption of backup and recovery operations. Given that Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent is deployed in many enterprise environments, including financial institutions, healthcare providers, and government agencies, exploitation could undermine data integrity and availability, potentially causing operational downtime and regulatory compliance issues under GDPR. The elevated privileges gained could also facilitate lateral movement within networks, increasing the risk of broader compromise. The medium severity rating reflects the requirement for local access and the absence of remote exploitation vectors, but the critical nature of the affected systems in many organizations elevates the practical risk. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged in targeted attacks against organizations with high-value data or critical infrastructure, especially where endpoint protection agents are trusted components.

1. Immediate mitigation should include restricting local access to systems running the Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent, enforcing strict user account controls, and monitoring for unusual DLL loading behavior or unauthorized file placements in directories searched by the agent. 2. Implement application whitelisting and integrity monitoring to detect and prevent unauthorized DLLs from being loaded. 3. Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to identify suspicious activities indicative of privilege escalation attempts. 4. Until an official patch is released, consider isolating or limiting the use of the vulnerable agent on critical systems or deploying compensating controls such as enhanced logging and alerting on privilege escalation events. 5. Educate system administrators and security teams about the vulnerability to ensure rapid response to any signs of exploitation. 6. Once available, promptly apply the vendor's patch to remediate the vulnerability. 7. Conduct regular audits of software versions and configurations to ensure compliance with security best practices.