Power ManagerApplication · Dell

CVE-2023-32450

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.15 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Dell Power Manager, Versions 3.3 to 3.14 contains an Improper Access Control vulnerability. A low-privileged malicious user may potentially exploit this vulnerability to perform arbitrary code execution with limited access.

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

Dell Power Manager versions 3.3 through 3.14 contain an Improper Access Control vulnerability that allows a low-privileged user to bypass authorization checks and achieve arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user privileges before performing sensitive operations, enabling privilege escalation from limited access to code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches or updates to Dell Power Manager 3.14 and later versions. If patches are unavailable, restrict physical and network access to systems running Power Manager and audit existing user accounts for unauthorized low-privileged access.

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
Power ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 3.3, < 3.15

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify Dell Power Manager installation
    Check for Dell Power Manager in the system. On Windows, look in Program Files or Program Files (x86) for a Dell Power Manager folder. On Linux, check /opt/dell/powermanager or similar directories. Also check Windows Services or Linux service listings for Power Manager service.
    Affected if Dell Power Manager is installed on the system
  2. Determine installed version
    Check the application's About or Properties section. On Windows, right-click the executable or check the version in Add/Remove Programs. Look for a version file in the installation directory or check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Dell\PowerManager.
    Affected if The installed version is 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, or 3.14 (any version >= 3.3 and < 3.15)
  3. Identify configured user accounts
    Review user accounts configured within Dell Power Manager. Check the application's user management interface if accessible, or examine local Windows users and groups if Power Manager uses OS-level authentication.
    Affected if Low-privileged or non-administrator user accounts are configured in Power Manager
  4. Verify service account privileges
    Examine the service account under which Dell Power Manager runs. On Windows, open Services, find the Power Manager service, right-click and view Properties, then check the Log On account.
    Affected if The service runs under a standard user account rather than a dedicated service account with restricted privileges
  5. Check for unauthorized access
    Review Power Manager audit logs or Windows Event Viewer logs for any operations performed by low-privileged users that should have required elevated permissions, particularly around script execution or configuration changes.
    Affected if There is evidence of low-privileged users performing privileged operations

The environment is affected if Dell Power Manager version 3.3 through 3.14 is installed and low-privileged user accounts have access to the application, enabling potential unauthorized code execution.

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 3.15 or later
Fixed in 3.15
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches or updates to Dell Power Manager 3.14 and later versions. If patches are unavailable, restrict physical and network access to systems running Power Manager and audit existing user accounts for unauthorized low-privileged access.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Dell Power Manager 3.15

  1. Navigate to Dell support website (www.dell.com) and search for Power Manager
  2. Locate Dell Power Manager version 3.15 or later
  3. Download the installer for the fixed version
  4. Close any running instances of Power Manager
  5. Uninstall the current version of Power Manager (if installed)
  6. Run the installer for version 3.15
  7. Follow the installation wizard prompts to complete the installation
  8. Restart the system if prompted
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade; no major breaking changes expected; backup configuration if applicable

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

Fix this in Power Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,580
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,328.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-32450 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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