dbcve.org
Kace Systems Management ApplianceApplication · Quest

CVE-2022-30285

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.1.168 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) through 12.0, a hash collision is possible during authentication. This may allow authentication with invalid credentials.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) versions through 12.0 contain a hash collision vulnerability in the authentication mechanism. Attackers can exploit algorithmic complexity during credential hashing to cause collisions, potentially allowing authentication with invalid credentials and achieving unauthenticated remote access.

MitigationUpgrade to Quest KACE SMA version 12.1 or later which contains the fix for this vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, implement rate limiting on authentication endpoints and monitor for unusual authentication patterns.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Kace Systems Management ApplianceApplication
Affected:< 12.1.168

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm KACE SMA is present in your environment
    Check if Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is installed by reviewing your asset inventory, scanning for kbox-related services, or accessing the SMA web interface at your usual KACE URL
    Affected if KACE SMA software is found in your environment
  2. Determine the installed SMA version
    Log into the KACE SMA admin console and navigate to the System Settings page, or use the command line on the SMA appliance to check the version (typically via 'version' command or by examining /opt/dell/kace/etc/VERSION)
    Affected if The version displayed is lower than 12.1.168 (e.g., 12.0, 11.x, 10.x)
  3. Verify the SMA is network accessible
    Confirm the SMA management interface is reachable over the network by testing connectivity to port 443 or 80 on the SMA host
    Affected if The SMA web interface is externally or broadly accessible
  4. Check for unusual authentication activity
    Review SMA authentication logs for patterns such as many failed login attempts from single IPs, successful logins from unusual locations, or authentication attempts with invalid credentials that somehow succeeded
    Affected if Logs show authentication anomalies or successful logins that cannot be explained by legitimate users

Your environment is affected if a Quest KACE SMA version lower than 12.1.168 is installed and the authentication interface is network-accessible.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.1.168 or later
Fixed in 12.1.168
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Quest KACE SMA version 12.1 or later which contains the fix for this vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, implement rate limiting on authentication endpoints and monitor for unusual authentication patterns.

Recommended fix High confidence

KACE SMA version 12.1.168 or later

  1. 1. Log in to the Quest KACE SMA administrative interface
  2. 2. Navigate to the System Settings or Appliance Settings section
  3. 3. Locate the current appliance version information to confirm version is below 12.1.168
  4. 4. Back up the current appliance configuration and any critical data
  5. 5. Download KACE SMA version 12.1.168 or later from the Quest support portal at support.quest.com
  6. 6. Follow Quest's documented upgrade procedure for applying the new version
  7. 7. After upgrade completes, verify the appliance version shows 12.1.168 or higher
  8. 8. Test authentication functionality to confirm the hash collision vulnerability is resolved
Caveat Review Quest release notes for any configuration changes or breaking changes between your current version and 12.1.168

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Kace Systems Management Appliance Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-30285 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data