CVE-2018-15766 in Encryption
Summary
by MITRE
On install, Dell Encryption versions prior 10.0.1 and Dell Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise versions prior 2.0.1 will overwrite and manually set the "Minimum Password Length" group policy object to a value of 1 on that device. This allows for users to bypass any existing policy for password length and potentially create insecure password on their device. This value is defined during the installation of the "Encryption Management Agent" or "EMAgent" application. There are no other known values modified.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/01/2020
This vulnerability affects Dell encryption solutions and represents a critical configuration management flaw that undermines enterprise security policies. The issue manifests during the installation process of Dell Encryption versions prior to 10.0.1 and Dell Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise versions prior to 2.0.1, where the installation routine automatically modifies group policy settings to enforce a minimum password length of just one character. This behavior directly contradicts established security frameworks and organizational password policies that typically require complex, multi-character passwords to maintain system integrity. The vulnerability is classified as a configuration error that violates fundamental security principles and creates an attack surface that adversaries can exploit to weaken endpoint security. According to CWE-276, this represents an insecure default configuration that allows for privilege escalation through policy manipulation, while the ATT&CK framework categorizes this under privilege escalation techniques that leverage configuration weaknesses.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the Encryption Management Agent installation process which programmatically sets the "Minimum Password Length" group policy object to a value of 1, effectively overriding any existing security configurations. This modification occurs without user consent or awareness, creating a silent security degradation that can persist on affected devices. The vulnerability specifically targets the group policy management system within Windows environments, where the installation process directly manipulates registry entries or group policy objects to enforce the weak password requirement. This type of behavior constitutes a privilege escalation vector since it allows unauthorized modification of system-wide security settings, effectively bypassing any existing password complexity requirements that administrators may have implemented. The flaw demonstrates poor software security practices where the installer does not validate existing security configurations or respect organizational security policies.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple password weakness to encompass broader endpoint security compromise. Organizations relying on Dell encryption solutions may unknowingly create weak password environments that significantly increase the risk of credential compromise through brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, or social engineering. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where security policies mandate minimum password lengths of eight characters or more, creating a direct conflict between organizational security requirements and the software's default behavior. The impact is amplified in environments with strict compliance requirements such as those governed by pci dss, hipaa, or iso 27001 standards, where such configuration errors could result in regulatory violations and security breaches. Attackers can exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to systems, potentially escalating privileges and moving laterally within networks, as demonstrated by ATT&CK techniques related to credential access and privilege escalation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate remediation through software updates to versions 10.0.1 and 2.0.1 respectively, which address the problematic group policy modification behavior. Organizations should conduct comprehensive audits of their encryption software installations to identify affected systems and manually reset the minimum password length policies to appropriate security levels. System administrators must implement monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized changes to group policy configurations, particularly focusing on password complexity settings. The vulnerability highlights the importance of software supply chain security and the need for thorough security testing of installation processes, particularly those that modify system-wide security policies. Organizations should also consider implementing automated compliance checking tools that can verify password policy settings and alert administrators to any unauthorized modifications. Additionally, security teams should review their incident response procedures to ensure proper handling of configuration-based vulnerabilities and maintain detailed logs of all security policy changes for forensic analysis purposes.