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 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') vulnerability. A high privileged attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to elevation of privileges.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.2",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-07T16:17:29.807Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-07T16:17:29.807Z",
  "executiveSummary": "Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) 5.0 is susceptible to an Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command vulnerability, classified as OS Command Injection. This security flaw exists within both the SCG 5.0 Appliance and SCG 5.0 Application editions.\nThe vulnerability arises from insufficient sanitization of input data, allowing a remote attacker with high-privileged access to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the underlying host. Successful exploitation leads to a direct escalation of privileges, potentially granting the attacker complete control over the appliance.\nAffected systems include 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. Given the high-privileged access requirement, the risk is significant for enterprise environments where the appliance serves as a critical infrastructure gateway. Attackers must already possess authorized, elevated access to the target system to trigger this flaw, limiting the threat profile to internal threats or compromised accounts.\nThe primary impact involves the total compromise of the application server's integrity and confidentiality, enabling the attacker to bypass security controls, manipulate system processes, or pivot further into the managed environment.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is rooted in the failure of the Dell SCG 5.0 software to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied input before passing it to system-level calls or shell execution interfaces. This classic OS Command Injection scenario occurs when the application constructs system commands using unsanitized variables, enabling an attacker to inject shell metacharacters such as ';', '&', or '|' to terminate the intended command and execute arbitrary malicious instructions with the privileges of the application process.\nThe attack flow requires an adversary to first authenticate to the Dell SCG platform with high-level administrative credentials. Once authenticated, the attacker identifies specific input fields or management API endpoints that fail to neutralize command control sequences. By providing a crafted payload containing malicious OS commands, the attacker manipulates the backend logic to execute code directly on the host operating system.\nBecause the application process typically executes with elevated system privileges, the injected commands inherit these permissions, facilitating horizontal or vertical privilege escalation. The vulnerability resides within the internal execution logic of the SCG 5.0 architecture that manages system configuration tasks. By subverting the command construction process, an attacker can bypass operational restrictions intended to sandbox user actions.\nPost-exploitation activities are limited only by the privileges of the executing service. A successful payload execution can result in the deployment of persistence mechanisms, extraction of sensitive configuration data, interception of outbound connection telemetry, or the execution of unauthorized administrative operations within the appliance ecosystem. The flaw specifically affects Dell SCG 5.0 Appliance versions before 5.36.00.16 and Dell SCG 5.0 Application versions before 5.36.00.00. As this is a server-side vulnerability, the exploitation occurs entirely within the context of the appliance, necessitating no client-side interaction other than the delivery of the malicious request to the vulnerable endpoint. There is no automated bypass for this mechanism; it relies entirely on the attacker's ability to supply input that the underlying shell interprets as a valid command chain."
}