CVE-2026-91896 in Alienware Command Center
Summary
by MITRE • 11/02/2026
Dell Alienware Command Center (AWCC), versions prior to 6.14.54.0, contain an Authentication Bypass by Spoofing vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Information Tampering, Denial of Service and Spoofing of Application Notifications.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/02/2026
The Dell Alienware Command Center (AWCC) software suite, specifically versions prior to 6.14.54.0, contains a critical security flaw classified as an Authentication Bypass by Spoofing vulnerability. This weakness stems from insufficient validation mechanisms within the application's communication protocols or local service interactions, allowing malicious actors to impersonate legitimate system components or user processes without providing valid credentials. The core technical issue lies in the failure of AWCC to strictly verify the origin and authenticity of incoming requests or notifications, particularly those originating from low-privilege contexts on a Windows operating system environment where such applications typically operate with elevated privileges for hardware control purposes.
A threat actor possessing local access and even minimal user privileges can exploit this flaw by crafting spoofed messages that mimic trusted internal signals used by the Alienware Command Center to manage lighting, fan speeds, power profiles, or other peripheral settings. By bypassing authentication checks through these spoofed inputs, an attacker gains unauthorized control over critical system configurations without needing administrative rights or valid login credentials. This capability effectively neutralizes the intended security boundaries of the application, allowing unauthenticated entities to interact with sensitive hardware management interfaces as if they were authorized users or trusted background services.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant and multifaceted. First, it enables Information Tampering, where an attacker can alter system configurations, such as changing thermal profiles to induce overheating or modifying RGB lighting settings for disruptive purposes. Second, the flaw facilitates Denial of Service conditions; by flooding the application with spoofed requests or manipulating critical control parameters incorrectly, an attacker could cause the AWCC service to crash, freeze, or behave unpredictably, thereby disrupting system stability and user experience. Furthermore, the ability to spoof application notifications allows for social engineering attacks where users might be misled into believing that legitimate security alerts or updates are occurring, potentially leading them to take harmful actions based on false premises generated by the compromised software interface.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-287: Improper Authentication and CWE-345: Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. In terms of offensive security tactics, it maps to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1098.004: SSH Authorized Key Modifications or more broadly T1621: Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation if viewed through the lens of bypassing multi-factor controls via local spoofing, though in this specific context, it is most accurately described under Local Privilege Escalation vectors where authentication checks are circumvented to achieve unauthorized state changes. The exploitation does not require remote network access but relies on physical or logical local presence, making it a threat primarily for devices that are left unattended or accessible to individuals with limited user account privileges within the same system domain.
Mitigation strategies must prioritize immediate software updates as the primary defense vector. Users should upgrade Dell Alienware Command Center to version 6.14.54.0 or later, where these authentication and spoofing checks have been hardened by Dell’s security engineering team. Until patches are applied, administrators can mitigate risk by restricting local user privileges on systems running AWCC, ensuring that only trusted administrative accounts interact with the software interface. Additionally, enabling strict application control policies via Windows Defender Application Control or similar endpoint protection solutions can prevent unauthorized processes from injecting spoofed messages into the AWCC communication channels. Regular auditing of system logs for anomalous activity related to hardware management services may also help in detecting exploitation attempts early before significant damage occurs.