Introduction
Unrestricted access to storage management functions can expose sensitive configuration and operational data to remote attackers. In enterprise environments using Dell Storage Center, a single missing authentication check in Dell Storage Manager version 20.1.21 (CVE-2025-43994) could allow an unauthenticated attacker to retrieve or manipulate critical storage information over the network.
Dell Technologies is a leading global IT vendor with a significant presence in enterprise storage, servers, and networking. Dell Storage Manager is a core management platform for Storage Center arrays, widely deployed in data centers worldwide. The product's security posture directly impacts the resilience of enterprise storage infrastructure.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-43994 is classified as a missing authentication for critical function vulnerability (CWE-306) in Dell Storage Manager version 20.1.21. The application exposes certain management functions over the network without enforcing authentication checks. This allows any remote attacker with network access to interact with these functions without providing credentials or requiring user interaction.
The vulnerability is exploitable via standard network requests. Attack complexity is low, and exploitation does not require any privileges. The lack of authentication on critical endpoints means an attacker can potentially access sensitive configuration data or modify storage settings, depending on the nature of the exposed functions. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.6, reflecting the high impact and ease of exploitation.
Related vulnerabilities in the same product line provide additional context. CVE-2025-43995 describes improper authentication in the DataCollectorEar.ear component, where attackers can access APIs by supplying special SessionKey and UserId values. This suggests that authentication logic may be inconsistently applied or that architectural weaknesses exist in how credentials and sessions are managed.
No public code snippets or proof of concept exploit details are available for CVE-2025-43994.
Affected Systems and Versions
- Dell Storage Manager version 20.1.21 is affected.
- Only this version is explicitly listed in public advisories as vulnerable.
- The vulnerability is present in default configurations where management interfaces are network accessible.
Vendor Security History
Dell Technologies has experienced several notable vulnerabilities in its storage management products:
- CVE-2025-43727: Authentication bypass in Dell PowerProtect Data Domain (RestAPI component)
- CVE-2025-22478: XXE in Dell Storage Manager 20.1.20
- CVE-2025-43995: Improper authentication in Dell Storage Manager 20.1.21
Dell typically issues coordinated advisories and makes patches available promptly. However, the recurrence of authentication and input validation flaws in storage management products suggests ongoing challenges in secure development and code review processes.
