CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-9452 — An issue was discovered in Acronis True Image 2020 24.5.22510

High CVSS 7.8

An issue was discovered in Acronis True Image 2020 24.5.22510. anti_ransomware_service.exe includes functionality to quarantine files by copying a suspected ransomware file from one directory to another using SYSTEM privileges. Because unprivileged users have write permissions in the quarantine folder, it is possible to control this privileged write with a hardlink. This means that an unprivileged user can write/overwrite arbitrary files in arbitrary folders. Escalating privileges to SYSTEM is trivial with arbitrary writes. While the quarantine feature is not enabled by default, it can be forced to copy the file to the quarantine by communicating with anti_ransomware_service.exe through its REST API.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2021-05-25
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-59

Affected products

  • acronis / true_image_2020 / 24.5.22510

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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