CVE-2026-21417
Published: 27 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-21417 is a high-severity Plaintext Storage of a Password (CWE-256) vulnerability in Dell Cloudboost Virtual Appliance. Its CVSS base score is 7.0 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Credentials In Files (T1552.001); ranked at the 17.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Likely Mitigating ControlsAI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Protection of passwords and credentials at rest forces encryption or equivalent controls instead of plaintext storage.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct mapping from plaintext credential storage (CWE-256) to discovery of unsecured credentials in files.
NVD Description
Dell CloudBoost Virtual Appliance, versions prior to 19.14.0.0, contains a Plaintext Storage of Password vulnerability. A high privileged attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Elevation of privileges.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-21417 is a Plaintext Storage of Password vulnerability (CWE-256) affecting Dell CloudBoost Virtual Appliance in versions prior to 19.14.0.0. The issue involves sensitive credentials being stored in plaintext, which could be accessed by an attacker. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.0 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H) and was published on 2026-01-27.
A high privileged attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability to achieve elevation of privileges. The CVSS vector indicates network accessibility with high attack complexity, no user interaction required, and impacts including low confidentiality and integrity effects alongside high availability disruption, though the description emphasizes privilege escalation as the primary outcome.
Dell has addressed this issue in DSA-2026-025, detailed at https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000419894/dsa-2026-025-security-update-for-dell-cloudboost-virtual-appliance-multiple-vulnerabilities, recommending an update to version 19.14.0.0 or later for mitigation.
Details
- CWE(s)