CVE-2026-76779: Dell Policy Manager Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-76779 Overview

CVE-2026-76779 affects Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) Policy Manager in versions prior to 5.34.00.16. The flaw stems from an Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts weakness [CWE-307]. An unauthenticated remote attacker can abuse the missing rate-limiting controls to perform brute-force authentication attacks. Successful exploitation enables privilege elevation, protection mechanism bypass, and unauthorized access to the Policy Manager interface. Dell published advisory DSA-2026-385 to address the issue along with other vulnerabilities in the same component.

Critical Impact
Remote, unauthenticated attackers can brute-force administrative credentials to gain privileged access to Dell Secure Connect Gateway Policy Manager.

Affected Products

Dell Policy Manager for Secure Connect Gateway versions prior to 5.34.00.16
Dell Secure Connect Gateway (SCG) deployments relying on vulnerable Policy Manager builds
Enterprise environments using SCG for Dell product telemetry and remote support

Discovery Timeline

2026-10-09 - CVE-2026-76779 published to NVD
2026-10-13 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-76779

Vulnerability Analysis

Dell Policy Manager for Secure Connect Gateway fails to restrict the number of authentication attempts an unauthenticated client can submit against its login interface. Without lockout thresholds or progressive delays, attackers can send high-volume credential guessing traffic without triggering any defensive mechanism. The weakness provides a direct path to administrative compromise when weak, reused, or default credentials exist in the environment. Because Policy Manager governs the behavior of SCG, compromise of the management plane translates into control over telemetry collection, remote scripting, and support-tunnel functionality across managed Dell infrastructure.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of enforcement around excessive authentication attempts as described by [CWE-307]. The application does not throttle repeated failed logins, lock accounts after a defined failure count, or require secondary verification once anomalous attempt rates are observed. This design gap allows automated credential-stuffing and dictionary attacks against any exposed Policy Manager instance.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires only network reachability to the Policy Manager web interface. No prior authentication, user interaction, or privileges are needed. An attacker running an automated brute-force or credential-stuffing tool can iterate through credential lists until a valid account is identified. Once valid credentials are discovered, the attacker inherits the permissions of that account, which may include administrative control over SCG policies and connected Dell devices.

No public proof-of-concept is available at this time, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Technical specifics beyond the Dell advisory have not been disclosed. See the Dell Security Advisory DSA-2026-385 for vendor details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-76779

Indicators of Compromise

High volumes of failed authentication events in Policy Manager application and web server logs within short time windows
Successful logins from unfamiliar source IP addresses immediately following clusters of failed attempts
Unexpected changes to SCG policies, user accounts, or integration configurations after suspicious login activity

Detection Strategies

Baseline normal authentication rates to the Policy Manager interface and alert on deviations such as rapid sequential failures from a single or distributed set of sources
Correlate web access logs with authentication outcomes to identify credential spraying patterns targeting multiple usernames with few attempts each
Hunt for post-authentication administrative actions originating from IPs that previously generated failed login telemetry

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward Policy Manager and reverse-proxy logs to a centralized analytics platform for retention and correlation
Monitor network boundaries for unsolicited inbound connections to the SCG Policy Manager management port
Track account privilege changes and policy modifications to detect lateral movement following credential compromise

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-76779

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Dell Policy Manager for Secure Connect Gateway to version 5.34.00.16 or later as specified in DSA-2026-385
Restrict network access to the Policy Manager interface so that only trusted administrative networks can reach it
Rotate credentials for all Policy Manager accounts and enforce strong, unique passwords
Audit recent authentication logs for signs of brute-force activity prior to patching

Patch Information

Dell has released a fixed build in version 5.34.00.16 of Policy Manager for Secure Connect Gateway. Administrators should review the Dell Security Advisory DSA-2026-385 for complete upgrade guidance and additional vulnerabilities fixed in the same release.

Workarounds

Place the Policy Manager behind a reverse proxy or web application firewall that enforces rate limiting and lockout on repeated failed logins
Segment the SCG management network and apply strict access control lists limiting source IPs permitted to reach the login endpoint
Enable multi-factor authentication where supported for all accounts with access to Policy Manager

bash

# Example iptables rule limiting new TCP connections to the Policy Manager port
# Replace <SCG_PORT> with the actual Policy Manager listening port
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <SCG_PORT> -m conntrack --ctstate NEW \
  -m recent --set --name SCGLOGIN
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <SCG_PORT> -m conntrack --ctstate NEW \
  -m recent --update --seconds 60 --hitcount 10 --name SCGLOGIN -j DROP