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Missing AuthenticationWeakness · CWE-306

CVE-2025-32978

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) 13.0.x before 13.0.385, 13.1.x before 13.1.81, 13.2.x before 13.2.183, 14.0.x before 14.0.341 (Patch 5), and 14.1.x before 14.1.101 (Patch 4) allows unauthenticated users to replace system licenses through a web interface intended for license renewal. Attackers can exploit this to replace valid licenses with expired or trial licenses, causing denial of service.

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 · high confidence

Quest KACE SMA contains an authentication bypass in its web-based license renewal interface, allowing unauthenticated attackers to replace valid system licenses with expired or trial licenses, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor patches for all affected versions (13.0.385, 13.1.81, 13.2.183, 14.0.341 Patch 5, or 14.1.101 Patch 4) to remediate the authentication bypass in the license management interface.

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

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Identify the installed KACE SMA version
    Log into the KACE SMA administrative interface and navigate to the System Settings or About page to view the exact version number. Alternatively, access the appliance via SSH and run: psql -U postgres -c "SELECT app_version FROM version_info" or check /opt/dell/kace/db/version file if accessible.
    Affected if The version number matches or falls within 13.0.385, 13.1.81, 13.2.183, 14.0.341 Patch 5, or 14.1.101 Patch 4 (unpatched versions).
  2. Verify the web management interface is accessible
    Confirm the KACE SMA web interface (typically on ports 80 or 443) is reachable from the network. This is the license renewal interface where the vulnerability exists.
    Affected if The web interface is exposed and reachable from untrusted networks, increasing attack surface.
  3. Inspect current license status
    Log into the KACE SMA admin console and navigate to the License Management or System Administration section. Verify the current license type (Production, Trial, or Expired) and its expiration date.
    Affected if The license shows as Trial, Expired, or has been replaced from its original valid Production license, indicating possible exploitation.
  4. Review license modification logs
    Check the KACE SMA audit logs or system logs for events related to license changes, license imports, or license renewal operations, particularly from unauthenticated or unexpected sources.
    Affected if Logs show license modification events that were not initiated by an authenticated administrator.

You are affected if your KACE SMA version is unpatched (13.0.385, 13.1.81, 13.2.183, 14.0.341 Patch 5, or 14.1.101 Patch 4) and your web interface is accessible, with evidence of license tampering or replacement.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor patches for all affected versions (13.0.385, 13.1.81, 13.2.183, 14.0.341 Patch 5, or 14.1.101 Patch 4) to remediate the authentication bypass in the license management interface.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to 13.0.385, 13.1.81, 13.2.183, 14.0.341 (Patch 5), or 14.1.101 (Patch 4) depending on current branch

  1. 1. Identify the current installed version of Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance via the admin console or system information page
  2. 2. Based on the current version branch, upgrade to the corresponding fixed release:
  3. - If on 13.0.x, upgrade to version 13.0.385 or later
  4. - If on 13.1.x, upgrade to version 13.1.81 or later
  5. - If on 13.2.x, upgrade to version 13.2.183 or later
  6. - If on 14.0.x, upgrade to version 14.0.341 (Patch 5) or later
  7. - If on 14.1.x, upgrade to version 14.1.101 (Patch 4) or later
  8. 3. Download the appropriate patch from Quest Support (support.quest.com) using your valid support account
Caveat Standard Quest SMA upgrade precautions apply - backup configuration and test in staging environment before production deployment

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
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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-2025-32978 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