Appsync CVE-2026-22768

Dell AppSync version 4.6.0 only. Requires low-privileged local user account on the target system. Victim interaction needed: user must perform an action (likely opening a file or executing a command) that triggers the privilege escalation. Remote exploitation not possible.

The CVSS 7.3 HIGH rating reflects serious privilege escalation potential, though real-world exploitability has constraints. The attack vector is local (AV:L) with low complexity (AC:L) but requires low-privilege authentication (PR:L) and user interaction (UI:R), limiting exploitation to scenarios where an attacker has already obtained initial access credentials and can induce user actions. Scope is unchanged (S:U) but impact is complete across confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), meaning successful exploitation grants attacker full control over the AppSync process and potentially underlying data protection operations. No EPSS score is provided, but local-only vulnerabilities historically show lower exploitation probability compared to remote flaws. No CISA KEV listing confirms this is not confirmed actively exploited in the wild. The UI:R requirement suggests exploitation may involve social engineering or require timing with legitimate administrative actions. Risk is elevated for environments where multiple administrators share systems or where AppSync runs on multi-tenant infrastructure. Organizations using Dell AppSync 4.6.0 in production data protection workflows should prioritize remediation, particularly if local access controls are weak or if AppSync manages business-critical application data. The combination of LOW attack complexity and existing vendor patch makes this actionable for security teams despite local-only attack vector.

An attacker who has compromised a low-privilege domain account through phishing or credential theft authenticates to a Windows server running Dell AppSync 4.6.0 in the backup infrastructure. Discovering that AppSync installation directories or service executables have overly permissive write access, the attacker replaces a legitimate AppSync binary or configuration file with a malicious payload during a maintenance window when an administrator is scheduled to perform AppSync operations. When the administrator launches the AppSync management console or service restart occurs with user interaction, the malicious code executes with elevated privileges, granting the attacker SYSTEM-level access to the backup server. With full control, the attacker can access protected application data managed by AppSync, exfiltrate backup repositories containing sensitive business information, or deploy ransomware across the data protection infrastructure. The UI:R requirement means the exploit succeeds when legitimate administrative actions trigger the compromised resource execution, making the timing dependent on operational schedules but the technical execution straightforward once file permissions are confirmed weak.