CVE•Published 2026-07-27•Modified 2026-08-03•1 article on news•5 live references•NVD data

CVE-2021-32086Quest · Kace_systems_management_appliance

Vulnerability data via NVD (ingested)

CVSS v3.1

9.8

CRITICAL

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

EPSS percentile

Exploit Prediction Scoring System · top 91% of all CVEs

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-321Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key

Description

An issue was discovered in Quest KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SMA) 11.0.273. It uses a hardcoded symmetric encryption key to encrypt secrets in the MySQL databases. (This key is not unique for each installation.) An attacker that gains access to the MySQL server or a backup files can decrypt the secrets. Often, the decrypted secrets can be used to escalate privileges within KACE, or gain privileged access to unrelated systems or services.

Timeline

Published 2026-07-27

Modified 2026-08-03

External references

NVD MITRE Exploit-DB GitHub PoC VulnCheck

Search for exposed instances

Shodan + Censys queries derived from NVD's CPE data. The vuln tag catches assets Shodan has explicitly linked to this CVE; the product / banner fingerprints find exposed instances even when the vuln tag was never applied (which is common).

Shodan · vuln tag0 hosts

vuln:CVE-2021-32086

Hosts Shodan has explicitly fingerprinted as vulnerable.

Shodan · product + version

product:"Quest Kace Systems Management Appliance" version:"11.0.273"

Version-pinned fingerprint from NVD's first vulnerable CPE.

Shodan · banner/body mention

http.html:"Kace Systems Management Appliance"

HTTP body or banner mentions "Kace Systems Management Appliance" — catches deploys Shodan didn't identify as a product.

More intel sources (5)

Shodan report

vuln:CVE-2021-32086