CVE-2021-44206

Local privilege escalation via Media Builder DLL hijacking

Published Feb 4, 2022 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

DLL hijacking in Acronis True Image 2021 and Cyber Protect Home Office allows local users to gain elevated privileges. The Media Builder service uses an uncontrolled DLL search path; Acronis has not disclosed the DLL name or writable search location. A low-privileged local user must induce user interaction, after which attacker-supplied code executes with elevated rights.

CVSS severity7.3
High
EPSS probability0.24%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

DLL hijacking in Acronis True Image 2021 and Cyber Protect Home Office allows local users to gain elevated privileges. The Media Builder service uses an uncontrolled DLL search path; Acronis has not disclosed the DLL name or writable search location. A low-privileged local user must induce user interaction, after which attacker-supplied code executes with elevated rights.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-44206
Published
Feb 4, 2022
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Acronis
Product
Acronis True Image
Classifications
CWE-427, T1574.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 4, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <39287

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Acronis · Acronis True Imageversion=unspecified <39287
Acronis · Acronis Cyber Protect Home Officeversion=unspecified <39612

Published CVSS scores

7.3Acronis International GmbHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.4NIST NVDAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-427Uncontrolled Search Path Element
T1574.001DLL Search Order Hijacking

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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