Veeam Backup & Replication Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2022-26501)
Published In CISA KEV since Sources: CVE.org
What is affected, what to do
Veeam Backup & Replication 10.x and 11.x has Incorrect Access Control (issue 1 of 2).
The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. CISA lists it as used in ransomware campaigns. The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.
Conflicting version data — version display is hidden until the data is resolved.
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Metrics
9.8
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
9.8
CVSS v3
Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: CVE.org
4.1 %
EPSS score
Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 90.7
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Critical
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 240.45 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- actively exploited
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 9.8 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 9.8
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 4.1 %
- Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 90.7
- Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- Actively exploited
- Published
In CISA KEV since
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary
Response and mitigation
Why act now?
Prioritisation rationale
This flaw is network-reachable without authentication or user interaction and yields full code execution on the backup server, and CISA flags it for known use in ransomware campaigns. Operators abuse compromised Veeam servers to harvest stored credentials, delete backups and neutralise recovery before encrypting, with mid-market organisations and critical-infrastructure operators running on-prem backup estates as typical targets. Exploitation likelihood is high, and because the backup server underpins business continuity obligations under NIS2, any unpatched VBR server reachable from user or VPN networks should be treated as critical with a 24-hour fix window; tightly isolated instances remain high priority.
Runbook step 1
Immediate response (0-24 h)
- Inventory: Identify every Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server and its build number (console → Help → About, or file/registry version). Affected: 10.x below build 10.0.1.4854 and 11.x below build 11.0.1.1261.
- Patch: Upgrade to fixed builds 10.0.1.4854 (v10) or 11.0.1.1261 (v11), or move straight to a currently supported major release. Patch package name: check the vendor advisory. Out-of-support releases (e.g. 9.5) receive no fixes — upgrade them first.
- If you cannot patch right now: Stop the "Veeam Distribution Service" on the VBR server and set its startup type to Disabled (vendor workaround). Expect remote component deployment to proxies/repositories to be impaired while it is off.
- Restrict network reach immediately: Block the Distribution Service port (default TCP 9380 — confirm locally with
netstat -ano) at host firewall and network ACLs for everything except required Veeam components. No VBR server should be internet-facing. - Compromise assessment: Treat any vulnerable server that was network-reachable before patching as potentially compromised: EDR triage, hunt for new services, local accounts, scheduled tasks and unknown binaries.
- Rotate credentials: If compromise is suspected, rotate all accounts stored in the VBR credential manager (domain, vCenter/Hyper-V, repository, cloud). The backup server holds the keys to your whole estate.
Runbook step 2
Mitigation layers
- Network segmentation: Place VBR servers in a dedicated management/backup segment; allow inbound only from admin jump hosts and defined proxy/repository systems. Deny outbound internet by default, allowlisting update endpoints.
- IPS/NDR rule: Suricata/Snort rule flagging traffic to TCP 9380 on VBR servers from outside the Veeam infrastructure allowlist (
alert tcp !$VEEAM_INFRA any -> $VBR_SERVERS 9380); enable your IPS vendor's signatures for CVE-2022-26501. - Identity and privilege: Keep VBR out of the production domain where feasible (workgroup or separate management domain per Veeam best practice); least-privilege service accounts, never Domain Admins in the credential manager.
- Backup resilience: Ensure immutable repositories, a hardened Linux repository, or offline/air-gapped copies (3-2-1-1-0) so a compromised VBR server cannot wipe your recovery capability.
- Endpoint hardening: EDR in block mode on the VBR server; WDAC/AppLocker policies preventing unsigned binaries from executing out of Veeam directories and temp paths.
Runbook step 3
Detection rules
- EDR process ancestry (Sysmon EID 1 / Windows EID 4688):
cmd.exe,powershell.exe,rundll32.exe,certutil.exespawned by the Distribution Service process (verify process name locally). KQL shape:DeviceProcessEvents | where InitiatingProcessFolderPath has @"\Veeam\" and FileName in~ ("cmd.exe","powershell.exe","rundll32.exe","certutil.exe"). - Network telemetry (Zeek conn.log / firewall): Connections to TCP 9380 on VBR servers from hosts outside the Veeam infrastructure, especially client subnets or VPN pools; new outbound connections from the VBR server to external IPs.
- File drops and persistence: Sysmon EID 11 for new
.exe/.dllin Veeam install paths orC:\Windows\Temp; System EID 7045 / Security EID 4697 (service install) and EID 4698 (scheduled task) on the backup server. - Ransomware staging: Deletion of backup jobs/restore points in Veeam logs,
vssadmin delete shadows,wbadmin delete catalog, or security tooling being disabled. Sigma shape:process_creationwithCommandLine|contains|all: ['vssadmin','delete','shadows']scoped to backup hosts, level critical. - Credential access: Unusual processes querying the Veeam configuration database (SQL/PostgreSQL), and logons (EID 4624, type 3/10) using credential-manager accounts from atypical source hosts.
- EDR process ancestry (Sysmon EID 1 / Windows EID 4688):
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
Veeam Backup & Replication 10.x and 11.x has Incorrect Access Control (issue 1 of 2).
Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| veeam | veeam_backup_\&_replication |
|
|
Vendors and products
Public exploit references
Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.
| CISA KEV Catalog | CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.gov | actively exploited |
References & sources
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2022-26501"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2022-26501.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2022-26501 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>