CVE-2026-21420

High

Published: 23 February 2026

Published

23 February 2026

Modified

24 February 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score v3.1 7.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0013 2.9th percentile

Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-21420 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Search Path Element (CWE-427) vulnerability in Dell Repository Manager. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique DLL (T1574.001); ranked at the 2.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2026-21420 is an Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability (CWE-427) in Dell Repository Manager (DRM), affecting versions prior to 3.4.8. Published on 2026-02-23, the issue has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.3 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts with low attack complexity.

A low-privileged attacker with local access can exploit this vulnerability by leveraging the uncontrolled search path, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution and escalation of privileges. Exploitation requires user interaction, such as running a malicious file or executable placed in a searchable path.

Dell's security advisory DSA-2026-059 details a security update addressing this vulnerability in Dell Repository Manager. Practitioners should apply the patch by updating to version 3.4.8 or later to mitigate the risk.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-7388

Vulnerability details

Dell Repository Manager (DRM), versions prior to 3.4.8, contains an Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to arbitrary code execution and escalation of privileges.

CWE(s): CWE-427

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1574.001 DLL Stealth

Adversaries may abuse dynamic-link library files (DLLs) in order to achieve persistence, escalate privileges, and evade defenses.

attack.mitre.org →

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

CWE-427 uncontrolled search path directly enables DLL/executable search-order hijacking (T1038/T1574.002) for local arbitrary code execution and privilege escalation (T1068).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0