Description

Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager, versions prior to 5.34.00.16, contains an Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Elevation of privileges.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-29T13:17:51.123Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-29T13:17:51.123Z",
  "executiveSummary": "Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager versions prior to 5.34.00.16 are affected by an Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource vulnerability.\nThis flaw allows a local, low-privileged attacker to escalate their current system privileges to a higher level, potentially gaining unauthorized administrative or root-level control over the appliance.\nThe vulnerability originates from insecure configuration of system resources or files that do not enforce proper access control mechanisms. By leveraging these excessive permissions, an attacker can manipulate sensitive system operations or bypass security constraints.\nThe risk is significant due to the nature of the appliance, which acts as a gateway for secure telemetry and support services. Compromise of this gateway can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive network infrastructure or data transmitted through the service.\nExploitation requires the attacker to already possess local access to the target system. No remote network interaction is explicitly required for the initial entry, but the impact of a successful privilege escalation enables full system manipulation.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is classified as an Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource (CWE-732). In the affected versions of Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager, the system fails to apply restrictive Access Control Lists (ACLs) or file system permissions to critical binaries, configuration files, or memory objects used by the Policy Manager component.\nThe root cause lies in a misconfiguration during the installation or deployment process where sensitive resources are left with world-writable or world-executable permissions, or they are owned by an overly permissive user context. This allows a local, low-privileged user account to modify, replace, or intercept the execution flow of these critical resources.\nThe attack flow typically involves an attacker identifying a specific file or object associated with the Policy Manager that lacks proper OS-level protection. The attacker, operating under a restricted service account or low-privileged user, targets these resources to execute arbitrary code with the elevated permissions of the Policy Manager process. For instance, if an executable used for policy enforcement is writable by a low-privileged user, the attacker can overwrite the binary with a malicious payload.\nWhen the Policy Manager service or a related administrative task triggers the execution of the modified resource, the operating system executes the payload with the elevated context of the service, effectively granting the attacker full control over the application's logic or the underlying host OS.\nThe vulnerability is present in all Dell SCG Policy Manager versions prior to 5.34.00.16. Since the exploitation occurs at the file system or process level, network exposure is not a prerequisite; however, if the gateway is accessible via other remote vulnerabilities, this local flaw acts as a powerful vector for persistence and full system compromise.\nThe post-exploitation impact includes the potential for persistent backdooring of the appliance, exfiltration of stored telemetry credentials, modification of secure connectivity policies to redirect traffic, and complete administrative control over the Secure Connect Gateway instance."
}