CVE-2025-24380 is an OS command injection vulnerability identified in Dell Unity storage systems, specifically affecting versions 5.4 and prior. The root cause is improper neutralization of special characters in OS commands, classified under CWE-78, which allows an attacker with low privileges and local access to inject and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system. This can lead to unauthorized command execution and elevation of privileges, potentially compromising the entire system. The vulnerability does not require user interaction but does require the attacker to have local access, which could be through compromised credentials or physical access. The CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 indicates a high severity, with impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (all rated high). Although no exploits are currently known in the wild, the vulnerability presents a significant risk due to the critical role Dell Unity systems play in enterprise storage environments. The lack of a patch at the time of publication necessitates immediate mitigation through access restrictions and monitoring. The vulnerability was reserved in January 2025 and published in March 2025, indicating recent discovery and disclosure.

The exploitation of this vulnerability can have severe consequences for organizations relying on Dell Unity storage systems. Successful attacks can lead to unauthorized command execution, allowing attackers to escalate privileges and gain full control over the affected system. This compromises the confidentiality of sensitive data stored on the system, the integrity of stored and processed data, and the availability of storage services. For enterprises, this could mean data breaches, data corruption, disruption of critical storage services, and potential lateral movement within the network. Given the central role of storage systems in IT infrastructure, the impact extends to business continuity and regulatory compliance. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure are particularly at risk due to the sensitivity and criticality of the data managed by Dell Unity systems.

1. Immediately restrict local access to Dell Unity systems to trusted administrators only, employing strict access control policies and multi-factor authentication where possible. 2. Monitor system logs and command execution traces for unusual or unauthorized command activity indicative of exploitation attempts. 3. Implement network segmentation to isolate storage systems from less trusted network zones, reducing the risk of unauthorized local access. 4. Apply principle of least privilege to all user accounts with access to the affected systems, minimizing the attack surface. 5. Regularly update and patch Dell Unity systems as soon as official patches or firmware updates addressing CVE-2025-24380 become available from Dell. 6. Conduct security awareness training for administrators to recognize signs of local compromise and suspicious activity. 7. Consider deploying host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS) on storage management interfaces to detect command injection attempts. 8. Review and harden any custom scripts or automation interacting with the Dell Unity OS commands to ensure proper input validation and sanitization.