CVE-2026-76779 in Secure Connect Gateway Policy Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 10/09/2026
Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager, versions prior to 5.34.00.16, contains an Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Elevation of privileges, Protection mechanism bypass, and Unauthorized access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/09/2026
The Dell Secure Connect Gateway Policy Manager, specifically versions prior to 5.34.00.16, is susceptible to a critical security flaw classified as an Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts. This vulnerability stems from the application's failure to implement adequate controls against brute-force attacks or credential stuffing techniques during the authentication process. In a properly secured system, mechanisms such as account lockout policies, progressive delays between login attempts, CAPTCHA challenges, or rate limiting are essential to mitigate automated guessing of user credentials. The absence of these protective measures in this version of the Policy Manager allows an unauthenticated attacker with remote network access to systematically attempt multiple username and password combinations without encountering significant resistance or temporary bans. This lack of restriction effectively lowers the barrier for attackers who possess common usernames or can enumerate valid accounts through other means, enabling them to gain unauthorized entry into the administrative interface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its direct correlation with Elevation of Privileges and Protection Mechanism Bypass. Once an attacker successfully guesses a valid set of credentials, they are granted access to the Policy Manager console, which typically holds high-level administrative privileges necessary for configuring network security policies, managing user roles, and controlling gateway behavior. By bypassing the intended authentication safeguards through excessive attempts rather than exploiting a complex code flaw, the attacker effectively neutralizes one of the primary layers of defense in the Dell Secure Connect Gateway architecture. This unauthorized access allows the adversary to modify critical security configurations, potentially disabling firewall rules, altering routing policies, or creating backdoor accounts that persist even after the initial vulnerability is patched if not properly monitored. The ability to bypass protection mechanisms means that standard audit logs might record successful logins from legitimate-looking sources, making detection more difficult without specialized monitoring tools focused on authentication anomalies.
From a classification perspective, this issue aligns with CWE-307, which describes Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts, and is frequently associated with the MITRE ATT&CK technique T1110, known as Brute Force. The exploitation path leverages the attacker's ability to automate credential testing against a remote service that does not enforce strict limits on login frequency or duration. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where weak passwords may still be in use for legacy systems or internal services managed by such gateways. The combination of remote accessibility and insufficient authentication throttling creates an attack vector that requires minimal sophistication but yields high-value access to critical infrastructure components.
To mitigate this risk, organizations running affected versions must immediately apply the vendor-recommended patch updating Dell Secure Connect Gateway Policy Manager to version 5.34.00.16 or later. This update includes the necessary code changes to enforce proper restrictions on authentication attempts, thereby preventing brute-force exploitation. In addition to applying patches, administrators should implement defense-in-depth strategies such as enforcing strong password policies that resist dictionary attacks, enabling multi-factor authentication where supported by the platform, and configuring network-level rate limiting using firewalls or intrusion prevention systems to block IP addresses exhibiting suspicious login behavior. Regular auditing of authentication logs for patterns indicative of brute-force activity is also recommended to detect any potential exploitation attempts before they result in a full compromise.