VulnerabilityPublished 6 Jan 2026

CVE-2025-36589: Dell Unisphere for PowerMax · XML External Entity (XXE)

Affects Dell Unisphere for PowerMaxSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.6 High : upgrade to 9.2.4.19 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.6High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 20% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 9.2.4.19

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Jan 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade Dell Unisphere for PowerMax to 9.2.4.19.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
DellUnisphere for PowerMax	Affected ≥ N/A, < 9.2.4.19	Fixed in 9.2.4.19

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-36589 effectively, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Immediately restrict network access to Dell Unisphere for PowerMax management interfaces using network segmentation, firewalls, and VPNs to limit exposure to trusted administrators only. 2) Monitor XML processing logs and network traffic for anomalous XML payloads indicative of XXE attacks. 3) Disable or restrict XML external entity processing in the application configuration if possible, or apply XML parser hardening techniques to prevent external entity resolution. 4) Enforce strict access controls and multi-factor authentication for all users accessing the management interface to reduce the risk of low-privilege attackers gaining access. 5) Maintain up-to-date backups of critical data and configuration to enable recovery in case of compromise. 7) Conduct security awareness training for administrators on recognizing and responding to suspicious activity related to storage management systems. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on access control, monitoring, and XML parser configuration specific to the affected product.

Description

Dell Unisphere for PowerMax, version(s) 9.2.4.x, contain(s) an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with remote access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to unauthorized access to data and resources outside of the intended sphere of control.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-36589 can be substantial. Dell PowerMax systems are widely used in large enterprises and data centers for high-performance storage management, often containing sensitive personal data, intellectual property, and critical business information. Unauthorized data access could lead to breaches of GDPR and other data protection regulations, resulting in legal penalties and reputational damage. The partial integrity loss could affect data reliability, leading to operational disruptions. Availability impacts, though limited, could affect storage management functions, potentially delaying critical IT operations. Given the remote exploitability and low privilege requirements, attackers could leverage this vulnerability to escalate access or move laterally within networks. European sectors such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and government, which rely heavily on robust storage solutions, are particularly at risk. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive defense, but the high severity score demands urgent attention to prevent future exploitation.

CWE-611Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.
Implementation · System Configuration
Many XML parsers and validators can be configured to disable external entity expansion.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Data Serialization External Entities Blowup (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000402262/dsa-2025-425-dell-powermaxos-dell-powermax-eem-dell-unisphere-for-powermax-dell-unisphere-for-powermax-virtual-appliance-dell-unisphere-360-dell-solutions-enabler-virtual-appliance-security-update-for-multiple-vulnerabilities (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Jan 2026, 16:53 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-611

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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