Detect Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines (RP4VMs) Hard-coded Credentials Exploitation in Google Chronicle
Detects exploitation of CVE-2026-22769, a hard-coded credentials vulnerability in Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines (RP4VMs). Threat actors (including UNC6201) have actively exploited this zero-day to gain unauthorized access to RP4VMs appliances, enabling lateral movement, data exfiltration, and ransomware deployment within virtualized environments. The hard-coded credentials allow unauthenticated remote access to RP4VMs management interfaces.
MITRE ATT&CK
YARA-L Detection Query
rule dell_rp4vms_hardcoded_creds_cve_2026_22769 {
meta:
author = "df00tech Detection Engineering"
description = "Detects CVE-2026-22769 exploitation via hard-coded credentials in Dell RP4VMs"
severity = "CRITICAL"
priority = "HIGH"
reference = "https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000426773/dsa-2026-079"
yara_version = "YL2.0"
rule_version = "1.0"
events:
$auth.metadata.event_type = "USER_LOGIN"
$auth.security_result.action = "ALLOW"
$auth.target.user.userid in (
"admin", "support", "boxmgmt", "root", "service", "recover"
)
(
$auth.target.hostname = /(?i)(recoverpoint|rp4vm|rpa\d)/
or $auth.target.asset.asset_id = /(?i)(recoverpoint|rp4vm)/
)
$auth.principal.ip = $src_ip
match:
$src_ip over 1h
condition:
#auth > 0
}Chronicle YARA-L rule detecting successful logins to Dell RP4VMs systems using known hard-coded or default usernames. Matches against USER_LOGIN events allowed by security controls where the target hostname or asset ID identifies an RP4VMs appliance.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate RP4VMs administrators who have not renamed default accounts post-deployment
- Automated Dell support tooling using documented default service credentials
- Monitoring probes authenticating with default credentials as part of legacy health-check configurations
- Chronicle log parser misattributing system process events as user login events on RP4VMs hosts
Other platforms for CVE-2026-22769
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 4 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1RP4VMs Default Credential SSH Authentication Simulation
Expected signal: SSH authentication event in /var/log/auth.log on the target RP4VMs appliance showing 'Accepted password for admin from <attacker_ip>'. SIEM should receive this via syslog forwarding from the appliance.
- Test 2RP4VMs Post-Exploitation Command Execution via Hard-coded Credentials
Expected signal: SSH session opened for user 'support' followed by process execution events (cat, ps, netstat/ss, find) visible in Auditd or Falco telemetry if deployed on the RP4VMs Linux host.
- Test 3RP4VMs Credential Discovery — Searching for Additional Credentials Post-Compromise
Expected signal: Auditd EXECVE syscall events for grep, cat, and env commands executed under the 'boxmgmt' user context on the RP4VMs host. File access events for /etc directory traversal.
- Test 4RP4VMs Persistence — Unauthorized SSH Key Installation
Expected signal: File write event to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys under the 'admin' user account on the RP4VMs host. Auditd or Falco should capture the open/write syscalls against the authorized_keys file path.
References (4)
- https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000426773/dsa-2026-079
- https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000426742/recoverpoint-for-vms-apply-the-remediation-script-for-dsa
- https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/unc6201-exploiting-dell-recoverpoint-zero-day
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22769
Unlock Pro Content
Get the full detection package for CVE-2026-22769 including response playbook, investigation guide, and atomic red team tests.