CVE-2021-32088

Published Jul 27, 2026

Last updated 3 days ago

CVSS critical 9.8

Overview

Description
An issue was discovered in Quest KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SMA) 11.0.273. Certain API endpoints contain a rate-limiting feature to minimize a brute-force attack. This protection can be bypassed by removing the kboxid cookie.
Source
cve@mitre.org
NVD status
Analyzed
Products
kace_systems_management_appliance

Risk scores

CVSS 3.1

Type
Secondary
Base score
9.8
Impact score
5.9
Exploitability score
3.9
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Severity
CRITICAL

Weaknesses

134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
CWE-384

Social media

Hype score
Not currently trending

Configurations

Related CVEs

  1. An issue was discovered in Quest KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SMA) 11.0.273. It uses a hardcoded symmetric encryption key to encrypt secrets in the MySQL databases. (This key is not unique for each installation.) An attacker that gains access to the MySQL server or a backup files can decrypt the secrets. Often, the decrypted secrets can be used to escalate privileges within KACE, or gain privileged access to unrelated systems or services.•CVE-2021-32086
  2. An issue was discovered in Quest KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SMA) 11.0.273. It installs with default user credentials. The report and R1 MySQL accounts have a password of box747, which is publicly known and documented. This allows remote attackers to trivially gain privileged access to the MySQL databases. Sensitive information is stored in the database, such as privileged credentials for other systems.•CVE-2021-32085
  3. An issue was discovered in Quest KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SMA) 11.0.273. It installs with default user credentials. The kbftp account has a password of getbxf, which is publicly known and documented. This allows remote attackers to trivially gain privileged access to the FTP service interface, which contains MySQL backups. Sensitive information is stored in the database, such as privileged credentials for other systems.•CVE-2021-32087
  4. An issue was discovered in Quest KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SMA) 11.0.273. If a customer restricts access to the web console by IP address or subnets, the API endpoints are not restricted. If credentials/API keys are known to an attacker, the appliance can still be accessed via the API, leading to a potential compromise of the entire environment that is configured for KACE.•CVE-2021-32084
  5. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Improper Authentication Vulnerability•CVE-2025-32975

References

Sources include official advisories and independent security research.