CVE-2026-27102: Dell PowerScale OneFS Privilege Escalation

CVE-2026-27102 Overview

Dell PowerScale OneFS contains an incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability (CWE-266) affecting versions 9.5.0.0 through 9.10.1.6 and versions 9.11.0.0 through 9.13.0.1. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to elevation of privileges on affected systems.

Critical Impact

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Dell PowerScale OneFS that allows low-privileged attackers to elevate their privileges, potentially compromising the integrity and availability of enterprise storage infrastructure.

Affected Products

• Dell PowerScale OneFS versions 9.5.0.0 through 9.10.1.6
• Dell PowerScale OneFS versions 9.11.0.0 through 9.13.0.1

Discovery Timeline

• April 8, 2026 - CVE-2026-27102 published to NVD
• April 8, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-27102

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from incorrect privilege assignment within Dell PowerScale OneFS, a scale-out network-attached storage (NAS) operating system. The flaw allows a low-privileged user who already has local access to the system to escalate their privileges beyond their intended authorization level.

The vulnerability requires local access, meaning an attacker must already have some form of authenticated access to the PowerScale cluster. While this limits the attack surface compared to network-exploitable vulnerabilities, it presents significant risk in environments where multiple users or services have access to the storage infrastructure.

The impact of successful exploitation includes potential compromise of data confidentiality, modification of system configurations, and disruption of storage services. Given PowerScale's role as enterprise-grade storage infrastructure, privilege escalation could allow attackers to access sensitive data across the entire cluster.

Root Cause

The root cause is an incorrect privilege assignment (CWE-266) within the PowerScale OneFS operating system. This class of vulnerability occurs when a product incorrectly assigns privileges to a particular actor, creating an authorization problem that allows the actor to gain access to resources or perform actions outside their intended security context.

In the context of PowerScale OneFS, this likely involves improper handling of user permissions, role assignments, or access control mechanisms within the filesystem or administrative interfaces.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2026-27102 requires local access to the PowerScale system. An attacker would need:

1. Valid credentials or an existing session on the PowerScale cluster
2. Low-privilege access (standard user or limited administrative role)
3. Ability to execute operations that trigger the privilege assignment flaw

The vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited with low attack complexity. While confidentiality and integrity impacts are limited, the availability impact is high, suggesting successful exploitation could significantly disrupt storage services.

The attack manifests through improper privilege checks within the OneFS operating system that fail to properly validate or enforce access controls, allowing users to perform privileged operations or access resources beyond their authorized scope.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-27102

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected privilege escalation events in PowerScale audit logs
• Unusual administrative actions performed by low-privilege accounts
• Authentication anomalies showing privilege level changes without proper authorization workflows
• Access to restricted system files or configurations by non-administrative users

Detection Strategies

• Monitor PowerScale OneFS audit logs for privilege escalation patterns
• Implement behavioral analytics to detect users performing actions outside their normal scope
• Configure alerts for any modifications to system-level configurations by non-root users
• Review authentication and authorization logs for anomalous privilege assignments

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive audit logging on all PowerScale clusters
• Deploy SIEM integration to correlate PowerScale events with broader security monitoring
• Establish baseline user behavior patterns to identify privilege abuse
• Monitor for changes to user roles, permissions, or group memberships

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-27102

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the Dell Security Update DSA-2026-125 for patching guidance
• Inventory all PowerScale OneFS clusters running affected versions (9.5.0.0 through 9.10.1.6 and 9.11.0.0 through 9.13.0.1)
• Limit local access to PowerScale systems to only essential personnel
• Audit current user privileges and remove unnecessary access

Patch Information

Dell has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Administrators should consult the Dell Security Update DSA-2026-125 for detailed patch information and upgrade procedures. Update PowerScale OneFS to a version that addresses CVE-2026-27102 as outlined in the security advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement strict access controls limiting local system access to trusted administrators only
• Enable enhanced audit logging to detect potential exploitation attempts
• Apply network segmentation to restrict access to PowerScale management interfaces
• Review and minimize the number of accounts with any level of local access to affected systems

# Example: Enable enhanced audit logging on PowerScale OneFS
# Consult Dell documentation for specific commands applicable to your environment
isi audit settings global modify --protocol-auditing-enabled=true
isi audit settings global modify --syslog-audit-events=all