CVE-2026-22277
Published: 30 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-22277 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Dell Unity Operating Environment. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 3.7th 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-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Information input validation directly addresses the improper neutralization of special elements in OS commands, preventing command injection exploits.
Flaw remediation requires timely patching of the specific OS command injection vulnerability as detailed in Dell's security advisory.
Least privilege restricts the capabilities of low-privileged local accounts, limiting access to vulnerable components and potential exploitation impact.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
OS command injection (CWE-78) with local low-priv access directly enables root-level arbitrary command execution, mapping to exploitation for privilege escalation and Unix shell usage.
NVD Description
Dell UnityVSA, version(s) 5.4 and prior, contain(s) an Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to arbitrary command execution with…
more
root privileges.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-22277 is an OS Command Injection vulnerability (CWE-78) affecting Dell UnityVSA in versions 5.4 and prior. The flaw stems from improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command, allowing malicious input to alter command execution. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
A low-privileged attacker with local access to the system can exploit this vulnerability. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary command execution with root privileges, potentially allowing full system compromise, data exfiltration, persistence, or further lateral movement within the environment.
Dell's security advisory DSA-2026-054, detailed at https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000421197/dsa-2026-054-security-update-for-dell-unity-dell-unityvsa-and-dell-unity-xt-security-update-for-multiple-vulnerabilities, provides a security update addressing this and other vulnerabilities in Dell Unity, UnityVSA, and Unity XT systems. Security practitioners should apply the recommended patches to mitigate the risk.
Details
- CWE(s)