CVE-2025-46366 is a vulnerability identified in Dell CloudLink, a cloud security and management product, affecting versions prior to 8.1.1. The core issue is the plaintext storage of passwords (CWE-256), which violates fundamental security best practices for credential management. This vulnerability allows a privileged user—who already has elevated access—to exploit the weakness to escalate privileges further or directly access the underlying database containing sensitive information. The vulnerability does not require user interaction and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.7, reflecting medium severity. The attack vector is local (AV:L), with low attack complexity (AC:L), and requires high privileges (PR:H) but no user interaction (UI:N). The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H), meaning exploitation can lead to full compromise of the system's security posture. Although no public exploits are known at this time, the vulnerability poses a significant risk because plaintext password storage can allow attackers to retrieve credentials easily, facilitating lateral movement or further privilege escalation. Dell has not yet published patches, but upgrading to version 8.1.1 or later is expected to resolve the issue. Organizations should also review their privileged user access controls and audit password storage mechanisms to mitigate risk while awaiting patches.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a substantial risk to cloud infrastructure security, particularly for those relying on Dell CloudLink for cloud management and security. Exploitation can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, disruption of cloud services, and potential lateral movement within corporate networks. Confidentiality is at high risk due to exposure of plaintext passwords, which can be leveraged to compromise additional systems. Integrity and availability are also threatened, as attackers with escalated privileges can modify or disrupt cloud configurations and services. This can impact sectors with stringent data protection requirements such as finance, healthcare, and government. The medium CVSS score reflects that while exploitation requires privileged access, the consequences of a successful attack are severe. The absence of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially given the potential for insider threats or compromised privileged accounts. Organizations that do not promptly apply mitigations may face increased risk of data breaches, regulatory non-compliance, and operational disruptions.

1. Upgrade Dell CloudLink to version 8.1.1 or later as soon as patches become available to eliminate plaintext password storage. 2. Implement strict access controls and monitoring for privileged users to reduce the risk of insider threats or credential compromise. 3. Conduct regular audits of password storage and credential management practices within CloudLink and related systems to ensure no plaintext or weakly protected credentials exist. 4. Employ multi-factor authentication (MFA) for privileged accounts to add an additional security layer. 5. Monitor logs and alerts for unusual access patterns or privilege escalations within CloudLink environments. 6. Segment network access to CloudLink management interfaces to limit exposure to only trusted administrators. 7. Educate administrators on the risks of plaintext password storage and the importance of secure credential handling. 8. Prepare incident response plans specifically addressing potential misuse of privileged credentials in cloud management platforms. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on the specific context of Dell CloudLink and the nature of the vulnerability.