CVE-2026-79975 in Secure Connect Gateway
Summary
by MITRE • 09/07/2026
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 Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to server-side request forgery.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/07/2026
The identified security flaw resides within Dell SCG 5.0 Appliance versions prior to build 5.36.00.16 and the corresponding Application versions prior to 5.36.00.00, specifically manifesting as an improper certificate validation mechanism. This vulnerability stems from a failure in the cryptographic verification process where the software does not adequately validate X.509 certificates during secure communication sessions. In standard TLS or SSL implementations, certificate validation is critical for establishing trust between clients and servers by verifying that the presented certificate was issued by a trusted Certificate Authority, has not expired, matches the intended hostname, and possesses valid digital signatures. The deficiency in this implementation allows an attacker to bypass these checks, effectively treating untrusted or maliciously crafted certificates as legitimate. This breakdown in cryptographic integrity creates a pathway for man-in-the-middle attacks where the confidentiality and authenticity of data exchanges are compromised because the system cannot reliably distinguish between authorized endpoints and impersonators.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability enables server-side request forgery scenarios when combined with other attack vectors or specific network configurations. Although exploitation requires local access by a low-privileged attacker, the ability to manipulate certificate validation can facilitate unauthorized interactions with internal services that rely on mutual authentication or strict endpoint verification. An attacker leveraging this flaw could potentially redirect traffic to malicious servers, intercept sensitive data in transit, or inject fraudulent commands into backend systems that trust connections based solely on superficial TLS handshakes without rigorous chain-of-trust validation. The impact is particularly severe in environments where the SCG appliance manages critical storage infrastructure, as compromising the integrity of management plane communications could lead to unauthorized configuration changes, data exfiltration, or disruption of storage services.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which describes Improper Certificate Validation, a category of weaknesses often exploited in conjunction with CWE-319 Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information if the connection is subsequently downgraded or hijacked. Furthermore, from an offensive security perspective such as the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this flaw supports techniques related to Man-in-the-Middle attacks and potentially Credential Access if session tokens are intercepted during the flawed handshake process. The requirement for local access by a low-privileged user indicates that while remote exploitation is not directly possible via network vectors alone, lateral movement from an already compromised host could easily trigger this condition.
To mitigate this risk, organizations must prioritize immediate patching to version 5.36.00.16 or later for the Appliance and 5.36.00.00 or later for the Application component. These updates contain the necessary code corrections to enforce strict certificate chain validation, ensuring that only certificates signed by trusted authorities are accepted during secure communications. In addition to patching, administrators should review network segmentation policies to limit local access privileges on SCG appliances and implement monitoring solutions capable of detecting anomalous TLS handshake patterns or unexpected certificate issuers. Regular audits of cryptographic configurations across the storage infrastructure will further ensure compliance with industry best practices for securing management interfaces against protocol-level exploits.