Description

Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager, versions prior to 5.34.00.16, contains a Missing Authorization vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Elevation of privileges.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "4.3",
  "pubDate": "2026-10-09T09:17:08.290Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-10-09T09:17:08.290Z",
  "executiveSummary": "Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager versions prior to 5.34.00.16 are susceptible to a Missing Authorization vulnerability. This security flaw enables a low-privileged, remote attacker to bypass intended access controls within the application. The vulnerability facilitates an elevation of privileges, allowing unauthorized actors to perform actions beyond their designated permission scope. The risk is significant as it compromises the integrity of the Policy Manager component, potentially granting attackers administrative-level control over the gateway's security configurations and operational policies. Successful exploitation does not require advanced physical access, as the attack is executable via remote network vectors. Organizations utilizing affected versions of Dell SCG are advised to prioritize updates to version 5.34.00.16 or later to neutralize this escalation vector.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the Policy Manager component of the Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG). The root cause is a failure in the application's authorization framework, specifically a lack of server-side validation for access control policies during the handling of specific functional requests. While the application may correctly implement authentication—confirming the identity of the user—it fails to consistently verify that the authenticated user possesses the required authorization level for the requested administrative operations.\nIn the context of this Missing Authorization flaw, the system does not enforce strict role-based access control (RBAC) across all API endpoints or interface functions. An attacker authenticated with low-privileged credentials can manipulate HTTP requests or API calls targeted at sensitive management functions. Because the application logic relies on client-side state or inadequately secured server-side controllers, it processes these requests without verifying the user's privilege level against the requested action's required permission set.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the attacker establishes a legitimate session with the SCG Policy Manager using low-privileged credentials. Second, the attacker identifies targeted management endpoints—typically those restricted to administrative or elevated user roles—that fail to perform an explicit authorization check. Third, the attacker crafts a malicious request aimed at these endpoints. Finally, the server processes the unauthorized request, believing it to be a valid action due to the missing check, effectively granting the attacker escalated privileges.\nThe impact of this exploitation is severe. Once a low-privileged user bypasses authorization controls, they can effectively perform unauthorized administrative operations. This may include modifying global security policies, altering gateway configuration parameters, or managing sensitive system settings that are otherwise protected from standard users. Such elevation of privileges can facilitate further system compromise, data exfiltration, or the disabling of security monitoring features. The vulnerability persists across all deployments of the Policy Manager component in versions prior to 5.34.00.16, requiring administrative intervention to remediate the broken access control logic at the application layer."
}