Actively exploited vulnerability
Veeam Backup & Replication: code execution flaw under attack
CVE-2022-26501 · Veeam Backup & Replication Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
What is affected
Veeam Backup & Replication is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.
The Veeam Distribution Service in the Backup & Replication application allows unauthenticated users to access internal API functions. A remote attacker can send input to the internal API which may lead to uploading and executing of malicious code.
What an attacker can do
This is a code execution flaw. It lets an attacker run their own commands or programs on the affected system. In practice that usually means taking it over: installing malware, stealing data or using it to reach other devices on the same network.
- How it is reached
- Over the internet or network
- Access the attacker needs
- No account needed
- Does the victim have to do something?
- No, works without the victim doing anything
CISA records this vulnerability as known to be used in ransomware campaigns: attackers use it to get in, then encrypt files and demand payment.
What to do
- At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
- If you administer Veeam Backup & Replication at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
- If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Vendor advisories and fixes
- veeam.comwww.veeam.com/kb4288
How urgent is it
CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on December 13, 2022, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by January 3, 2023, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.
The EPSS model estimates a 4.1% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 90% of all scored vulnerabilities.
Its CVSS severity score is 9.8 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.
Technical description
Veeam Backup & Replication 10.x and 11.x has Incorrect Access Control (issue 1 of 2).