# CVE-2021-38086: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges via DLL hijacking in Acronis Cyber Protect and Agent for Windows.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4vx8-fj63-v6wv

## What is CVE-2021-38086?

CVE-2021-38086 is a high-severity vulnerability in Acronis Cyber Protect, published on 12 Aug 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Acronis Cyber Protect 15 for Windows prior to build 27009 and Acronis Agent for Windows prior to build 26226 allowed local privilege escalation via DLL hijacking.

Weakness: CWE-427 (Uncontrolled Search Path Element)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-38086?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Acronis Cyber Protect.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-38086?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-38086 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-38086 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-38086 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Acronis Cyber Protect

- [CVE-2025-30411](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-30411/): Auth bypass in Acronis Cyber Protect 15 (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2025-30412](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-30412/): Auth bypass in Acronis Cyber Protect 15 (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2025-30416](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-30416/): Missing authorization in Acronis Cyber Protect 15 (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-28710](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28710/): Auth bypass in Acronis Cyber Protect 17 (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2021-44198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-44198/): DLL hijacking could lead to local privilege escalation (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-38086 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-38086 is a high-severity vulnerability in Acronis Cyber Protect, published on 12 Aug 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-38086 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Acronis Cyber Protect. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38086/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38086/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-38086
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38086
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-38086

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38086/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.