CVE-2026-80167 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 Cryptographic Key vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to information disclosure.
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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. This vulnerability is classified as a Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key, which aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-798. The core technical issue involves the inclusion of static cryptographic keys directly within the application code or configuration files rather than deriving them from secure, dynamic sources such as hardware security modules or trusted key management services. This architectural decision fundamentally undermines the confidentiality guarantees that encryption is intended to provide, as the secret material required for decryption and verification becomes predictable and accessible to any party with sufficient access privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant because it allows a low-privileged attacker who has already achieved local access on the system to exploit the static nature of these keys. Once an adversary gains even minimal foothold within the operating environment, they can inspect the application binaries or configuration directories to extract the hard-coded cryptographic material. With possession of these valid keys, the attacker is no longer restricted by encryption boundaries and can decrypt sensitive data stored or transmitted by the SCG appliance. This leads directly to information disclosure, potentially exposing proprietary business logic, customer data, authentication credentials, or other confidential artifacts protected by the compromised encryption mechanisms.
From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability facilitates lateral movement and deeper system compromise in environments where local access has been obtained through initial exploitation vectors such as social engineering, unpatched services, or physical theft of hardware. The ability to decrypt stored data effectively neutralizes one of the primary defense-in-depth layers provided by encryption at rest. This scenario is consistent with ATT&CK technique T1538, which covers Secure Boot and Firmware analysis where attackers inspect system components for weaknesses, although in this specific case, it more directly relates to credential access via local exploitation techniques like T1003 or data exfiltration methods that rely on breaking encryption protections.
To mitigate the risks associated with hard-coded cryptographic keys, organizations must prioritize immediate patching of all affected Dell SCG appliances and applications to version 5.36.00.16 for the appliance and 5.36.00.00 for the application respectively. These updates likely replace the static key implementation with a more robust key management strategy that utilizes dynamic key generation or integration with external key vaults. In addition to patching, administrators should enforce strict access controls on local system accounts to minimize the attack surface available to low-privileged users who might attempt to extract these keys. Regular security audits and code reviews focusing on cryptographic implementations are essential to prevent similar weaknesses in future deployments, ensuring that sensitive data remains protected even if perimeter defenses or lower-level access controls are breached.