CVE-2026-28718: CWE-779 in Acronis Acronis Cyber Protect 17
Denial of service due to insufficient input validation in authentication logging. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect 17 (Linux, Windows) before build 41186.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
CVE-2026-28718 is a vulnerability identified in Acronis Cyber Protect 17, a comprehensive backup and cybersecurity product supporting both Linux and Windows platforms. The flaw is due to insufficient input validation in the authentication logging mechanism, categorized under CWE-779, which relates to improper or inadequate logging controls. Specifically, malformed or malicious input directed at the authentication logging function can trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition, causing the affected service or application to crash or become unresponsive. This vulnerability does not require any privileges or user interaction to exploit, and it can be triggered remotely over the network. The impact is limited to availability, with no direct compromise of confidentiality or integrity. The CVSS v3.0 base score is 5.3, indicating a medium severity level. No public exploits or active exploitation campaigns have been reported to date. The affected versions include all builds of Acronis Cyber Protect 17 prior to build 41186, meaning organizations running earlier versions are vulnerable. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation in logging components, which are often overlooked but critical for maintaining system stability and forensic capabilities. Since Acronis Cyber Protect is widely deployed in enterprise environments for backup and cybersecurity, this vulnerability could disrupt backup operations and incident response processes if exploited.
Potential Impact
The primary impact of CVE-2026-28718 is a denial of service condition affecting the availability of Acronis Cyber Protect 17 services. This can lead to interruption of backup and cybersecurity operations, potentially leaving systems unprotected or without recent backups during the downtime. For organizations relying heavily on Acronis Cyber Protect for data protection and threat prevention, such disruption could increase recovery time objectives (RTOs) and expose them to greater risk from other threats. Although the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity, the loss of availability in security-critical infrastructure can have cascading effects, including delayed incident detection and response. The ease of exploitation (no authentication or user interaction required) and network accessibility increase the risk profile. However, the lack of known exploits in the wild and the medium CVSS score suggest the threat is moderate but should not be underestimated, especially in environments with high dependency on Acronis Cyber Protect. Organizations with regulatory or compliance requirements for continuous data protection may face additional operational and legal risks if this vulnerability is exploited.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Upgrade Acronis Cyber Protect 17 to build 41186 or later as soon as the patch is available from the vendor to remediate the vulnerability. 2. Until a patch is applied, restrict network access to the Acronis Cyber Protect management interfaces and authentication services to trusted IP addresses only, minimizing exposure to potential attackers. 3. Implement network-level protections such as firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to monitor and block suspicious traffic targeting authentication logging endpoints. 4. Enable detailed monitoring and alerting on authentication logs and service availability to detect anomalies or service interruptions early. 5. Conduct regular backups and verify their integrity to ensure recovery capability in case of service disruption. 6. Review and harden logging configurations to ensure input validation and error handling are robust, and consider applying additional application-layer filtering if possible. 7. Engage with Acronis support for guidance and to receive timely updates on patches and mitigations. 8. Incorporate this vulnerability into organizational risk assessments and incident response plans to prepare for potential exploitation scenarios.
Affected Countries
United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland
CVE-2026-28718: CWE-779 in Acronis Acronis Cyber Protect 17
Description
Denial of service due to insufficient input validation in authentication logging. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect 17 (Linux, Windows) before build 41186.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
CVE-2026-28718 is a vulnerability identified in Acronis Cyber Protect 17, a comprehensive backup and cybersecurity product supporting both Linux and Windows platforms. The flaw is due to insufficient input validation in the authentication logging mechanism, categorized under CWE-779, which relates to improper or inadequate logging controls. Specifically, malformed or malicious input directed at the authentication logging function can trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition, causing the affected service or application to crash or become unresponsive. This vulnerability does not require any privileges or user interaction to exploit, and it can be triggered remotely over the network. The impact is limited to availability, with no direct compromise of confidentiality or integrity. The CVSS v3.0 base score is 5.3, indicating a medium severity level. No public exploits or active exploitation campaigns have been reported to date. The affected versions include all builds of Acronis Cyber Protect 17 prior to build 41186, meaning organizations running earlier versions are vulnerable. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation in logging components, which are often overlooked but critical for maintaining system stability and forensic capabilities. Since Acronis Cyber Protect is widely deployed in enterprise environments for backup and cybersecurity, this vulnerability could disrupt backup operations and incident response processes if exploited.
Potential Impact
The primary impact of CVE-2026-28718 is a denial of service condition affecting the availability of Acronis Cyber Protect 17 services. This can lead to interruption of backup and cybersecurity operations, potentially leaving systems unprotected or without recent backups during the downtime. For organizations relying heavily on Acronis Cyber Protect for data protection and threat prevention, such disruption could increase recovery time objectives (RTOs) and expose them to greater risk from other threats. Although the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity, the loss of availability in security-critical infrastructure can have cascading effects, including delayed incident detection and response. The ease of exploitation (no authentication or user interaction required) and network accessibility increase the risk profile. However, the lack of known exploits in the wild and the medium CVSS score suggest the threat is moderate but should not be underestimated, especially in environments with high dependency on Acronis Cyber Protect. Organizations with regulatory or compliance requirements for continuous data protection may face additional operational and legal risks if this vulnerability is exploited.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Upgrade Acronis Cyber Protect 17 to build 41186 or later as soon as the patch is available from the vendor to remediate the vulnerability. 2. Until a patch is applied, restrict network access to the Acronis Cyber Protect management interfaces and authentication services to trusted IP addresses only, minimizing exposure to potential attackers. 3. Implement network-level protections such as firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to monitor and block suspicious traffic targeting authentication logging endpoints. 4. Enable detailed monitoring and alerting on authentication logs and service availability to detect anomalies or service interruptions early. 5. Conduct regular backups and verify their integrity to ensure recovery capability in case of service disruption. 6. Review and harden logging configurations to ensure input validation and error handling are robust, and consider applying additional application-layer filtering if possible. 7. Engage with Acronis support for guidance and to receive timely updates on patches and mitigations. 8. Incorporate this vulnerability into organizational risk assessments and incident response plans to prepare for potential exploitation scenarios.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- Acronis
- Date Reserved
- 2026-03-03T02:29:03.753Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.0
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 69aa1963c48b3f10ff8d2b4f
Added to database: 3/6/2026, 12:01:39 AM
Last enriched: 3/13/2026, 7:43:18 PM
Last updated: 4/20/2026, 9:22:46 AM
Views: 41
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