CVE-2026-80134 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 Use of Hard-coded Credentials vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to unauthorized access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/07/2026
The identified security flaw resides within Dell SCG appliance and application software versions preceding the specified patches for version 5.36. This vulnerability is classified as a Use of Hard-coded Credentials, which corresponds directly to CWE-798 in the Common Weakness Enumeration taxonomy. The core technical issue involves the presence of static authentication credentials embedded directly into the source code or configuration files of the software rather than being dynamically generated or managed through secure credential storage mechanisms. This architectural decision creates a persistent security gap that remains consistent across all deployments unless explicitly patched, as the secret values are not unique to each installation and cannot be rotated by administrators without updating the underlying application binary or configuration package.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability allows for significant unauthorized access risks because it bypasses standard authentication controls. An attacker who gains remote network connectivity to the affected Dell SCG system can leverage these hardcoded credentials to authenticate as a privileged user account. This capability effectively neutralizes the intended security boundary of the application, granting the adversary immediate and unauthenticated entry into the management interface or backend services. The severity is compounded by the fact that such credentials are often static across multiple instances, meaning that compromise of one system may facilitate lateral movement if other systems in the same environment run the same vulnerable version with identical embedded secrets.
The exploitation path for this weakness aligns with several tactics within the MITRE ATT&CK framework, particularly Initial Access techniques involving Valid Accounts and Credential Dumping. Once authenticated via these hardcoded credentials, an attacker can proceed to execute further malicious activities such as data exfiltration, configuration tampering, or deployment of additional malware payloads. The impact extends beyond simple unauthorized access; it compromises the integrity and confidentiality of storage operations managed by the SCG appliance, potentially leading to service disruption or loss of critical enterprise data depending on the privileges associated with the compromised account.
Mitigation requires immediate remediation through software updates provided by Dell Technologies. Administrators must upgrade both the Dell SCG 5.0 Appliance to version 5.36.00.16 and the corresponding Application component to version 5.36.00.00 or later, as these releases address the underlying code flaw that permitted static credential usage. In addition to patching, organizations should enforce strict network segmentation policies to limit remote access to management interfaces, ensuring that only authorized IP ranges can reach the appliance. Regular audits of configuration files and application binaries for embedded secrets are also recommended to detect similar vulnerabilities in other software components within the infrastructure ecosystem.