CVE-2026-80238 Privilege escalation in Secure Connect Gateway 5.0 - Appliance

Critical 9.3 Published 7 Sep 2026 Updated 8 Sep 2026

An attacker with local SSH access or container compromise can exploit an exposed Docker socket to bypass protections and gain root-level control of the host.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2026-80238?

CVE-2026-80238 is a critical vulnerability in Dell Secure Connect Gateway, published on 7 Sep 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

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 Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Protection mechanism bypass. This vulnerability is considered critical because a low-privileged operator with SSH access to the SCG host can gain root-level access to the host without requiring a password by leveraging the exposed Docker socket. Additionally, an attacker who compromises a service running within the orchestrator container can access the same socket and escape the container boundary to obtain host-level control. Dell recommends that customers upgrade at the earliest opportunity.

Weakness: CWE-250

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-80238?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Dell Secure Connect Gateway.

How do I fix CVE-2026-80238?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-80238 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2026-80238 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Dell Secure Connect Gateway vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-j888-26f8-cxxc.