CVE-2025-7779 is a high-severity local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Acronis True Image products on macOS platforms, including the standard version and variants bundled with SanDisk and Western Digital hardware. The root cause is an insecure configuration of an XPC (interprocess communication) service, which allows an attacker with limited privileges on the affected system to escalate their privileges to a higher level, potentially root or system-level. This vulnerability is categorized under CWE-269, which relates to improper privilege management. The CVSS v3.0 base score of 8.8 reflects the critical impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with low attack complexity and requiring only limited privileges but no user interaction. The vulnerability affects versions prior to builds 42389 (standard), 42198 (SanDisk), and 42197 (Western Digital). Although no public exploits are currently known, the vulnerability's nature and severity make it a significant risk for macOS users of these products. Exploitation could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, bypass security controls, and compromise backup data integrity or availability, which is critical given the backup software's role in data protection.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a substantial risk, especially those relying on Acronis True Image for macOS for backup and disaster recovery. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive backup data, modification or deletion of backups, and potential disruption of business continuity. Given the high integrity and availability impact, attackers could manipulate backup sets to hide traces of intrusion or cause data loss. This is particularly concerning for sectors with stringent data protection requirements such as finance, healthcare, and government institutions within Europe. The local nature of the exploit means that attackers must have some initial access, which could be achieved through other means such as phishing or insider threats, making it a valuable post-compromise escalation vector. The vulnerability could also undermine trust in backup solutions, complicating incident response and recovery efforts.

Organizations should prioritize updating Acronis True Image for macOS to the latest patched builds once available, as no patches are currently linked but are expected given the vulnerability's publication. In the interim, restrict local user permissions to minimize the number of accounts with access to vulnerable systems. Employ macOS security features such as System Integrity Protection (SIP) and ensure that endpoint protection solutions monitor for suspicious privilege escalation attempts. Conduct regular audits of installed software versions and configurations, focusing on backup solutions. Limit physical and remote access to macOS systems running Acronis True Image to trusted personnel only. Additionally, implement robust logging and monitoring to detect anomalous behavior indicative of privilege escalation. Organizations should also consider isolating backup systems from general user environments to reduce attack surface. Finally, prepare incident response plans that include scenarios involving backup software compromise.