CVE-2020-15495
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAcronis True Image 2019 update 1 through 2020 on macOS allows local privilege escalation due to an insecure XPC service configuration.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceAcronis True Image 2019 Update 1 through 2020 on macOS contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability stemming from an insecurely configured XPC service. The XPC service, which handles inter-process communication in macOS, lacks proper authorization or access control checks, allowing a local unprivileged attacker to interact with the service and execute code with elevated privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 2019= 2020CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check installed Acronis True Image versionOpen Terminal and run: ls /Applications | grep -i 'Acronis True Image' or check via System Settings > Applications. Compare your version to the affected ranges (2019 Update 1 through 2020).Affected if The installed version is Acronis True Image 2019 (Update 1 or later) or version 2020 on macOS.
-
Verify the Acronis XPC service existsIn Terminal, run: sudo launchctl list | grep -i acronis OR ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/ | grep -i acronis OR ls /Library/LaunchAgents/ | grep -i acronis to locate any Acronis-related XPC or background services.Affected if An Acronis XPC service or launch daemon/agent is present on the system.
-
Confirm the XPC service is runningRun: ps aux | grep -i acronis to check if any Acronis processes are currently active.Affected if The Acronis XPC service process is currently running.
-
Inspect XPC service entitlement configurationLocate the Acronis XPC service binary (typically in /Applications/Acronis True Image.app/Contents/MacOS/ or /Library/Application Support/Acronis/) and inspect its entitlements using: codesign -d --entitlements - /path/to/service 2>/dev/null. Look for any entitlement files in the application bundle.Affected if The XPC service lacks proper authorization checks or has overly permissive entitlements (e.g., allows unprivileged users to connect without validation).
A user is affected if Acronis True Image 2019 Update 1 through 2020 is installed on macOS and the vulnerable XPC service is running with improper access controls.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataIf a vendor patch is available, update to the fixed version. Otherwise, remove or disable the vulnerable Acronis True Image XPC service until a patch is released, and review the XPC service's authorization checks and entitlement configuration to enforce proper privilege separation.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15495 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-15495 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data