CVE-2026-50033: Acronis DeviceLock DLP DLL Hijacking Privilege Escalation

Technical summary

CVE-2026-50033 is a DLL hijacking vulnerability (CWE-427) affecting Acronis DeviceLock DLP on Windows platforms. The application fails to properly validate or protect the search path for dynamically loaded libraries, allowing an attacker with local user privileges to place a malicious DLL in a directory that the application searches before secure system locations. When the vulnerable application runs and attempts to load a legitimate library, it instead loads the attacker's version, executing arbitrary code in the application's security context. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.3 (HIGH) reflects the local attack vector, low complexity, need for prior user login, requirement for user interaction, but high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Business impact

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to escalate from a standard user account to system-level or administrator privileges on affected Windows endpoints. For organizations using Acronis DeviceLock DLP to enforce data protection and access controls, compromise of the DLP agent itself undermines the entire security model—an attacker could disable monitoring, exfiltrate protected data, or laterally move to other systems. In regulated environments (finance, healthcare, legal), this could trigger compliance violations and incident response obligations.

Affected systems

Acronis DeviceLock DLP (Windows) builds before 9.0.15051.93227 are vulnerable. Verify your deployment version against the Acronis advisory. The vulnerability is local only, so it affects Windows endpoints where the product is installed and where an attacker has or can gain local login access.

Exploitability

The attack requires local system access and an authenticated user session, which limits opportunistic, remote exploitation. However, exploitability is straightforward once local access is achieved: placing a malicious DLL in a commonly-writable location (Temp directory, application installation folder, or system PATH) and triggering application execution through normal user interaction (launching the DLP client, scheduled tasks, or system events). No special privileges, complex code, or unusual user actions are required beyond what a standard user might do. Organizations with high staff turnover, contractor access, or shared workstations face elevated risk.

Remediation

Update Acronis DeviceLock DLP to build 9.0.15051.93227 or later. Verify the patch version in the Acronis security advisory before deploying. Organizations should also apply the principle of least privilege to limit local user account capabilities, restrict write access to sensitive directories, and monitor for suspicious DLL loading attempts.

Patch guidance

Contact Acronis or consult their official security advisory to obtain the patched build 9.0.15051.93227 or newer. Test the update in a non-production environment first to ensure compatibility with your endpoint management infrastructure and any integrated security policies. Schedule patching during normal maintenance windows to avoid disruption to DLP enforcement. Prioritize workstations where users have elevated local privileges or administrative access, as these are higher-risk targets.

Detection guidance

Monitor for unusual DLL load attempts by DeviceLock processes, particularly from user-writable directories (Desktop, Downloads, AppData, Temp). Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools can alert on suspicious DLL injection or module loading by the DeviceLock application. Review Windows event logs for suspicious process creation tied to DeviceLock services. Look for .dll files placed in non-standard locations shortly before DeviceLock execution. File integrity monitoring on the DeviceLock installation directory can detect unauthorized DLL modifications.

Why prioritize this

Although not yet on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, the vulnerability warrants high priority due to its direct impact on security tooling itself. DLP solutions are trust boundaries—their compromise is a critical failure. The low complexity of exploitation and the moderate barrier to entry (local access only) suggest it will be attractive for insider threats and post-compromise lateral movement. Organizations should patch within 30 days.

Risk score, explained

The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.3 reflects: local attack vector (AV:L) limiting scope to endpoints where an attacker is already present; low attack complexity (AC:L) requiring no special conditions; requirement for low privileges (PR:L) and user interaction (UI:R), which moderate but do not eliminate risk; and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) once successful. The score appropriately elevates this above moderate severity due to the high impact on system and data security.

Frequently asked questions