CVE-2026-79740 in Secure Connect Gateway
Summary
by MITRE • 09/09/2026
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 Credentials vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to information exposure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/09/2026
The identified security flaw resides within Dell SCG 5.0 Appliance versions prior to build 5.36.00.16 and the corresponding Dell SCG 5.0 Application software prior to version 5.36.00.00, representing a critical failure in authentication mechanisms known as Use of Hard-coded Credentials. This vulnerability stems from the implementation of static credentials that are embedded directly into the application code or configuration files rather than being dynamically generated or managed through secure credential stores. Such an architectural decision bypasses standard access control protocols by allowing any entity with network connectivity to authenticate using these pre-defined, unchangeable secrets without requiring user-specific identity verification. The presence of hard-coded credentials fundamentally undermines the principle of least privilege and ensures that authentication is not tied to individual users or roles, thereby eliminating accountability and auditability within the system.
From a technical perspective, this flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker who has achieved remote network access to bypass legitimate login procedures entirely. By utilizing the embedded username and password pairs found in the software artifacts, the adversary can gain unauthorized entry into the management interface of the Dell Storage Center Gateway appliance. This level of access typically grants administrative privileges or elevated rights that allow for comprehensive control over storage resources, configuration settings, and data integrity mechanisms. The exploitation does not require complex payload delivery or zero-day techniques; it relies solely on the availability of network reachability to the affected service port and knowledge or discovery of the static credentials, which are often documented in public security advisories or discoverable through reverse engineering efforts if not properly obscured during development.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to the potential for complete information exposure and system compromise. Once an attacker authenticates using these hard-coded credentials, they can exfiltrate sensitive storage configuration data, access protected volumes, modify replication policies, or potentially disrupt service availability by altering critical settings. In enterprise environments where Dell SCG appliances manage mission-critical storage infrastructure, such unauthorized access could lead to significant business disruption, regulatory non-compliance due to data leakage, and loss of integrity for stored assets. Furthermore, because the credentials are static across all installations running these vulnerable versions, a successful exploitation against one instance may indicate that other instances in the same network segment or organization are equally susceptible, facilitating lateral movement and broader infrastructure compromise by threat actors who have already breached perimeter defenses.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials, which categorizes flaws where authentication data is statically defined within code rather than being dynamically managed. It also maps to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078: Valid Accounts, specifically the sub-technique of using default or hard-coded accounts that are not intended for production use but remain active in deployed systems. To mitigate this risk, organizations must immediately apply the vendor-recommended patches upgrading Dell SCG 5.0 Appliance to version 5.36.00.16 or later and the Application component to version 5.36.00.00 or higher. These updates replace the static authentication mechanisms with dynamic credential management systems that enforce unique, user-specific identities and stronger password policies. Additionally, until patching is complete, network segmentation should be enforced to restrict access to the appliance management interfaces only from trusted administrative subnets, and intrusion detection systems should be tuned to alert on any successful login attempts using known default or suspicious account patterns associated with this vulnerability family.