CVE-2026-22281VulnerabilityPublished 22 Jan 2026

CVE-2026-22281: Dell PowerScale OneFS · Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

Affects Dell PowerScale OneFSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.5 Low · fixed in 9.13.0.0 : update Dell PowerScale OneFS when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.5Low

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 6% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 9.13.0.0, 9.10.1.4, 9.7.1.11 +1

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within 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 22 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 2026-10-25.

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 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 PowerScale OneFS to 9.13.0.0, 9.10.1.4, 9.7.1.11 or 9.5.1.6; dell/powerscale-onefs to 9.13.0.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
DellPowerScale OneFS	Affected ≥ N/A, < 9.13.0.0 ≥ N/A, < 9.5.1.6 ≥ N/A, < 9.7.1.11 ≥ N/A, < 9.10.1.4	Fixed in 9.13.0.0 9.10.1.4 9.7.1.11 9.5.1.6
Delldell/powerscale-onefs`pkg:rpm/dell/powerscale-onefs`Other threats	Affected 9.5.0.0 <=9.5.1.5 9.6.0.0 <=9.7.1.10 9.8.0.0 <=9.10.1.3 >=9.11.0.0 <9.13.0.0	Fixed in 9.13.0.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

1. Network Segmentation: Restrict access to Dell PowerScale OneFS management and data interfaces to trusted network segments only, minimizing adjacent network exposure. 2. Access Controls: Enforce strict role-based access controls and limit low privileged user capabilities to reduce the chance of exploitation. 3. Monitoring and Logging: Implement enhanced monitoring for unusual system behavior or service interruptions on PowerScale OneFS nodes to detect potential exploitation attempts early. 4. 5. Incident Response Preparation: Develop and test incident response plans specifically for storage system availability issues to minimize downtime impact. 6. Network Access Controls: Use firewalls and network access control lists (ACLs) to limit lateral movement within the network, reducing the risk from compromised internal hosts. 7. User Awareness: Educate internal users about the risks of adjacent network attacks and encourage reporting of unusual system behavior. These measures collectively reduce the attack surface and improve detection and response capabilities beyond generic advice.

Description

Dell PowerScale OneFS, versions 9.5.0.0 through 9.5.1.5, versions 9.6.0.0 through 9.7.1.10, versions 9.8.0.0 through 9.10.1.3, versions starting from 9.11.0.0 and prior to 9.13.0.0, contains a Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with adjacent network access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to denial of service.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2026-22281 is the potential for denial of service on critical storage infrastructure, which can disrupt business operations, data availability, and service continuity. Enterprises using Dell PowerScale OneFS for large-scale data storage, backup, or file sharing could experience outages or degraded performance if exploited. While the vulnerability does not allow data theft or modification, the loss of availability can affect compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR, especially if data access is interrupted during critical periods. The requirement for adjacent network access limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk within corporate networks or data centers. Organizations with segmented or well-controlled network environments may reduce exposure, but those with flat or poorly segmented networks face higher risk. The low privilege requirement means that even non-administrative users or compromised internal hosts could trigger the issue, emphasizing the need for internal network security controls. Overall, the impact is moderate but significant for operational continuity in data-centric European enterprises.

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.
Implementation
The most basic advice for TOCTOU vulnerabilities is to not perform a check before the use. This does not resolve the underlying issue of the execution of a function on a resource whose state and identity cannot be assured, but it does help to limit the false sense of security given by the check.
Implementation
When the file being altered is owned by the current user and group, set the effective gid and uid to that of the current user and group when executing this statement.
Architecture and Design
Limit the interleaving of operations on files from multiple processes.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.11.3 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V1.11.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links (opens in a new tab)
Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000415586/dsa-2026-049-security-update-for-dell-powerscale-onefs-multiple-vulnerabilities (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 22 Jan 2026, 19:35 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-367

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats