Description

Dell SCG 5.0 Appliance versions prior to 5.36.00.16 and Dell SCG 5.0 Application versions prior to 5.36.00.00, contains an Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to information disclosure.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "4.4",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-09T16:17:07.600Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-09T16:17:07.600Z",
  "executiveSummary": "Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) 5.0 Appliance versions prior to 5.36.00.16 and Application versions prior to 5.36.00.00 are susceptible to a vulnerability involving the use of hard-coded cryptographic keys.\nThis flaw resides in the handling of sensitive cryptographic material, which is embedded directly within the application binary or configuration rather than being managed through secure, dynamic generation or robust key management systems.\nThe vulnerability allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to encrypted data, leading to potential information disclosure.\nThe risk implication is significant, as the exposure of static keys undermines the integrity of encrypted communications and local data security. No specific user privileges are required for exploitation, and the attack can be executed remotely, assuming network accessibility to the affected SCG instance.\nSuccessful exploitation compromises the confidentiality of data protected by the hard-coded key, potentially exposing sensitive configuration settings, credentials, or session-related information stored or processed by the application.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of this vulnerability is the implementation of static, hard-coded cryptographic material within the Dell SCG 5.0 codebase. Hard-coding keys violates secure development best practices, as it creates a predictable security posture where the key is constant across all installations or specific versions, rendering the encryption ineffective against any adversary capable of extracting the binary or inspecting the application's configuration space.\nIn terms of attack flow, the vulnerability enables an unauthenticated attacker to obtain the static key through reverse engineering of the appliance firmware, memory analysis, or decompilation of the SCG application files. Once the key is obtained, the attacker can decrypt protected information transmitted or stored by the application.\nBecause the key is hard-coded, an attacker does not need to perform complex cryptanalysis or brute-force attacks. They simply apply the retrieved key to the target data. This bypasses the intended cryptographic controls designed to maintain data confidentiality. The lack of dynamic key derivation or the use of Hardware Security Modules (HSM) exacerbates the impact of this design flaw.\nThe attack is characterized by remote network exposure. Any attacker with reachability to the SCG management interface or relevant service endpoints can leverage the extracted key to decrypt sensitive data streams or files. The exploit does not require prior knowledge of the target's internal state or user session, as the vulnerability exists at the architectural level of the software deployment.\nPost-exploitation, the impact centers on unauthorized information disclosure. This may include, but is not limited to, the exposure of internal system configurations, metadata, or encrypted administrative credentials that rely on the compromised key for protection. The presence of such a vulnerability necessitates an immediate update, as static keys cannot be 'patched' through configuration changes alone and require the deployment of updated software versions that migrate to secure key management practices."
}