CVE-2025-32975

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) versions in the 13.0.x through 14.1.x branches, prior to the fixed builds, contain an improper authentication flaw (CWE-287) in the SSO authentication handling mechanism. Because the bypass requires no valid credentials, privileges, or user interaction and is reachable over the network, an attacker who can reach the appliance can impersonate legitimate users and achieve complete administrative takeover. Any organization running an affected SMA build is exposed, particularly where the appliance's web interface is reachable from untrusted networks. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-04-20, and press reporting describes attackers hijacking unpatched SMA systems, with compromises at roughly 60 organizations cited; ransomware use is not yet confirmed.

What to do: Upgrade affected SMA deployments to the fixed build for their branch — 13.0.385, 13.1.81, 13.2.183, 14.0.341 (Patch 5), or 14.1.101 (Patch 4) or later — prioritizing internet-facing appliances. Since the flaw is actively exploited and grants full admin takeover, review appliance logs and administrator accounts for signs of compromise (unexpected SSO sessions, new or altered accounts) and restrict access to the SMA web interface to trusted networks per Quest's guidance. U.S. federal agencies must apply the required mitigations or discontinue use under BOD 22-01 by the KEV deadline.