CVE-2020-2018

PAN-OS: Panorama authentication bypass vulnerability

Description

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.

Remediation

Solution:

  • This issue is fixed in PAN-OS 7.1.26, PAN-OS 8.1.12, PAN-OS 9.0.6, and all later PAN-OS versions. Upgrading Panorama to a fixed version is sufficient to resolve the issue. PAN-OS 8.0 is now end-of-life as of October 31, 2019, and is no longer covered by our Product Security Assurance policies.

Workaround:

  • This issue can be completely mitigated by enabling custom certificates authentication between Panorama and managed firewalls. See https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/panorama/8-0/panorama-admin/set-up-panorama/set-up-authentication-using-custom-certificates.html This issue affects the management interface of PAN-OS and is strongly mitigated by following best practices for securing the PAN-OS management interface. Please review the Best Practices for Securing Administrative Access in the PAN-OS technical documentation, available at: https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com

Category

9.0
CVSS
Severity: Critical
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 0.16%
Vendor Advisory paloaltonetworks.com
Affected: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2020-2018?
CVE-2020-2018 has been scored as a critical severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2020-2018?
To fix CVE-2020-2018: This issue is fixed in PAN-OS 7.1.26, PAN-OS 8.1.12, PAN-OS 9.0.6, and all later PAN-OS versions. Upgrading Panorama to a fixed version is sufficient to resolve the issue. PAN-OS 8.0 is now end-of-life as of October 31, 2019, and is no longer covered by our Product Security Assurance policies.
Is CVE-2020-2018 being actively exploited in the wild?
As for now, there are no information to confirm that CVE-2020-2018 is being actively exploited. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~0% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2020-2018?
CVE-2020-2018 affects Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS.
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