CVE-2025-48963 is a high-severity local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent across Linux, macOS, and Windows platforms prior to build 40296. The root cause is improper handling of symbolic links (soft links), classified under CWE-610 (Improper Restriction of Symbolic Links in a File System). This flaw allows a local attacker with limited privileges to exploit the agent's inadequate validation of symbolic links to escalate their privileges on the host system. The vulnerability requires local access and some user interaction but has a low attack complexity and does not require additional authentication beyond the initial local user access. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.3 reflects the high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, as successful exploitation could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges, potentially leading to full system compromise. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk due to the widespread use of Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent in enterprise environments for backup and cybersecurity protection. The lack of an available patch at the time of publication increases the urgency for mitigation and monitoring.

For European organizations, this vulnerability presents a critical risk especially for enterprises relying on Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent for backup and cybersecurity management. Exploitation could allow attackers to bypass security controls, access sensitive data, modify or delete backups, and disrupt business continuity. Given the agent’s role in protecting critical infrastructure and data, a successful attack could lead to data breaches, ransomware deployment, or operational downtime. The multi-platform nature of the agent means that organizations with heterogeneous environments are at risk. The vulnerability’s local nature implies that attackers would need initial access, which could be gained through phishing, insider threats, or compromised endpoints. The impact is particularly severe for sectors with strict data protection regulations such as finance, healthcare, and government agencies in Europe, where data confidentiality and system integrity are paramount.

Organizations should immediately inventory their deployments of Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent and verify the build version to identify vulnerable instances. Until an official patch is released, apply the following mitigations: restrict local user permissions to the minimum necessary, especially limiting the ability to create or manipulate symbolic links in directories accessed by the agent; employ application whitelisting and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious local privilege escalation attempts; enforce strict access controls and audit logging on systems running the agent; isolate critical backup servers and management consoles from general user environments; educate users on the risks of local exploitation and enforce strong endpoint security hygiene to prevent initial access; and monitor vendor communications closely for patch releases and apply updates promptly once available. Additionally, consider deploying file integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes to agent files or configurations.