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CVE-2020-2018· NVD / CVE Program· CNA palo_alto

PAN-OS: Panorama authentication bypass vulnerability

An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Panorama context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to a Panorama's management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls. An attacker requires some knowledge of managed firewalls to exploit this issue. This issue does not affect Panorama configured with custom certificates authentication for communication between Panorama and managed devices. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; All versions of PAN-OS 8.0.

CriticalCVSS 9.0 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 13, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.4% · 71th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

36

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
36 / 40 · 9.0 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.4%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
9.0
CNA · palo_alto
9.0
agree

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
paloaltonetworkspan-os

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Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • paloaltonetworks pan-os7.1.0 and later · before 7.1.26
  • paloaltonetworks pan-os8.0.0 and later · up to 8.0.20 inclusive
  • paloaltonetworks pan-os8.1.0 and later · before 8.1.12
  • paloaltonetworks pan-os9.0.0 and later · before 9.0.6

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (palo_alto). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS

    • 8.0.*affected
    • 7.1 and later · before 7.1.26affectedfixed in 7.1.26
    • 8.1 and later · before 8.1.12affectedfixed in 8.1.12
    • 9.0 and later · before 9.0.6affectedfixed in 9.0.6

Same product

paloaltonetworks: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2024-3400PAN-OS: Arbitrary File Creation Leads to OS Command Injection Vulnerability in GlobalProtectKEV
    100Now
  • CVE-2017-15944Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS before 6.1.19, 7.0.x before 7.0.19, 7.1.x before 7.1.14, and 8.0.x before 8.0.6 allows remote attackers to executeKEV
    98Now
  • CVE-2024-0012PAN-OS: Authentication Bypass in the Management Web Interface (PAN-SA-2024-0015)KEV
    97Now
  • CVE-2025-0108PAN-OS: Authentication Bypass in the Management Web InterfaceKEV
    95Now
  • CVE-2026-0257PAN-OS: GlobalProtect Authentication Bypass VulnerabilitiesKEV
    90Now
  • CVE-2024-9474PAN-OS: Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability in the Web Management InterfaceKEV
    85Now

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS7.1.26Vendor (CNA)
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS8.1.12Vendor (CNA)
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS9.0.6Vendor (CNA)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

  • Ben NottPalo Alto Networks during internal security review.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted

Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-287 · Improper Authentication

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

Authentication is added route by route instead of being enforced in one place. When a route added later bypasses the shared middleware, the session check never runs for it.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-287 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
app.use("/admin", requireSession, adminRouter);
// Route added later skips the middlewareapp.post("/admin-api/config", updateConfig);

Fixed

ts
const admin = express.Router();admin.use(requireSession, requireRole("admin"));
admin.post("/config", updateConfig);app.use("/admin", admin);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records