CVE-2024-55540
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 · uneditedLocal privilege escalation due to DLL hijacking vulnerability. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect 16 (Windows) before build 39169.
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 · high confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in Acronis Cyber Protect 16 (Windows) before build 39169 due to DLL hijacking. The application loads dynamic link libraries from insecure paths, allowing an authenticated local attacker to place a malicious DLL that gets loaded and executed with elevated (SYSTEM) 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<= 15= 16CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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.
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Identify if Acronis Cyber Protect is installedCheck for the product in Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ or look for the Acronis installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Acronis)Affected if The product is found on the system
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Determine the installed version and build numberOpen the Windows Registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Acronis\Global\ or check the file version of CoreServiceStarter.exe in the Acronis installation folder (right-click > Properties > Details)Affected if The version shows 16.x with build lower than 39169, or version 15 or lower, or no build number is displayed (older installation)
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Identify the DLL search path used by Acronis servicesOpen Task Manager, find an Acronis service process (such as Acronis Core Service), right-click and select 'Open file location'. Use Process Explorer (from Sysinternals) to view the DLL search path for the running processAffected if The DLL search path includes world-writable directories (such as the application directory itself, temp folders, or directories with weak ACLs)
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Check for unauthorized DLLs in the application directoryNavigate to the Acronis installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\Acronis or C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis) and list all .dll files. Compare against known legitimate Acronis DLLs or check file timestamps for recently added filesAffected if Unexpected DLL files exist, especially with unusual timestamps or names that do not match Acronis component patterns
The system is affected if Acronis Cyber Protect version 16 with build lower than 39169 or version 15 or earlier is installed, and the DLL search path contains writable directories where an attacker could place a malicious DLL.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Acronis Cyber Protect 16 to build 39169 or later. For defense-in-depth, restrict write access to directories in the application's DLL search path and monitor for unauthorized DLL placement.
Acronis Cyber Protect 16 build 39169 or later
- Upgrade Acronis Cyber Protect 16 (Windows) to build 39169 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the build number in the product UI or via the command line
- Restart any affected services if prompted
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-55540 — 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-2024-55540 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
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- 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