# CVE-2020-26181: Privilege escalation in PowerScale OneFS

> A compadmin user with specific privileges can escalate to root on Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale clusters running in SmartLock Compliance mode.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Jan 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6qqx-5fph-qx4j

## What is CVE-2020-26181?

CVE-2020-26181 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell Emc Powerscale Onefs, published on 5 Jan 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Dell EMC Isilon OneFS versions 8.1 and later and Dell EMC PowerScale OneFS version 9.0.0 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability on a SmartLock Compliance mode cluster. The compadmin user connecting using ISI PRIV LOGIN SSH or ISI PRIV LOGIN CONSOLE can elevate privileges to the root user if they have ISI PRIV HARDENING privileges.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-26181?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Dell Emc Isilon Onefs, Dell Emc Powerscale Onefs.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-26181?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-26181 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-26181 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-26181 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Dell Emc Powerscale Onefs

- [CVE-2020-5328](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5328/): Missing authorization in Isilon OneFS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-5353](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5353/): Missing authorization in Isilon OneFS (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-5369](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5369/): Privilege escalation in Isilon OneFS (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-1213](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1213/): Cross-site request forgery in Isilon OneFS (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-5371](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5371/): Misconfiguration in Isilon OneFS (high 8.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-26181 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-26181 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell Emc Powerscale Onefs, published on 5 Jan 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-26181 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Dell Emc Powerscale Onefs. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-26181/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-26181/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-26181
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-26181
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-26181

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-26181/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.