Description

Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager, versions prior to 5.34.00.16, contains an Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key 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": "2026-10-09T10:16:38.833Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-10-09T10:16:38.833Z",
  "executiveSummary": "Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager versions prior to 5.34.00.16 are susceptible to an Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability.\nThis flaw enables a low-privileged, remote attacker to manipulate security controls, resulting in an unauthorized elevation of privileges.\nThe vulnerability resides within the Policy Manager component, which is responsible for enforcing access control policies within the SCG infrastructure.\nBy bypassing established authorization checks, an attacker can perform actions restricted to administrative or higher-privileged accounts, severely compromising the integrity and confidentiality of the gateway management functions.\nSuccessful exploitation requires the attacker to have established remote access to the environment, though they do not initially require elevated credentials.\nThe risk is categorized as high due to the potential for complete control over security policy enforcement within the Dell SCG platform, necessitating immediate remediation to maintain a secure administrative posture.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is identified as an Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key, indicating a failure in the application's internal validation logic when processing specific input parameters used for authorization decisions.\nIn Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager versions prior to 5.34.00.16, the system relies on user-supplied input to determine or verify authorization state. The flaw occurs because the application fails to properly sanitize or cryptographically verify the keys or identifiers passed to the Policy Manager, allowing an attacker to manipulate these values.\nAn attacker with low-privileged remote access can exploit this by intercepting and modifying the traffic directed toward the Policy Manager component. By supplying a crafted or manipulated user-controlled key, the attacker can force the application to evaluate their session as having higher authorization than their actual assigned privilege level.\nThe attack flow begins with the attacker identifying the specific request structure processed by the Policy Manager. Upon intercepting the authenticated traffic, the attacker injects or alters the key parameter used for authorization checks. If the backend service relies on this client-provided data without cross-referencing it against a secure, server-side identity store or performing integrity checks, the system erroneously grants the attacker the associated elevated permissions.\nThis elevation of privilege allows the attacker to execute administrative commands, modify system-wide configurations, or alter communication policies enforced by the gateway. Because the Policy Manager is a central component for security orchestration, the impact is significant, potentially allowing an attacker to disable security monitoring, exfiltrate gateway data, or leverage the gateway as a pivot point for lateral movement within the enterprise network.\nThe root cause is a fundamental failure in the trust boundary between the client-provided input and the server-side access control engine. The application assumes the integrity of the key provided by the client, failing to implement robust server-side validation or session-based authorization enforcement. Consequently, the Policy Manager component fails to maintain the principle of least privilege, as the authorization logic can be bypassed by anyone capable of interacting with the service remotely."
}