Palo Alto Networks · PAN-OS · Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Verdict
Patch first · actively exploited, reachable from the internet without credentials, and in the top 1% of CVEs by near-term exploitation probability
Added to CISA KEV 2025-02-18 · exploited in the wild for 586 days
CVSS 8.8 HIGH. The score is a summary; these three components are the part that decides whether something scanning the internet can use it.
| Attack vector | networkreachable over the network, with no local access needed |
|---|---|
| Privileges required | noneneeds no credentials at all |
| User interaction | nonecan be triggered with nobody interacting with the page or request |
| Base vector | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:N/R:U/V:C/RE:M/U:Red |
| Weakness | CWE-306 |
This describes the vulnerability. It says nothing about whether your systems run it.
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.9846, which places it in the top 1% of all tracked CVEs. The percentile is the more useful half: 0.18 in absolute terms sounds low until you know most of the internet-facing software in the world scores under that.
| EPSS probability | 0.9846 |
|---|---|
| Percentile | 0.999 — top 1% |
| Added to KEV | 2025-02-18 |
|---|---|
| Days exploited | 586 |
| Federal remediation due | not set |
| Ransomware use | no known ransomware campaign use |
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
An authentication bypass in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS software enables an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the management web interface to bypass the authentication otherwise required by the PAN-OS management web interface and invoke certain PHP scripts. While invoking these PHP scripts does not enable remote code execution, it can negatively impact integrity and confidentiality of PAN-OS. You can greatly reduce the risk of this issue by restricting access to the management web interface to only trusted internal IP addresses according to our recommended best practices deployment guidelines https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/community-blogs/tips-amp-tricks-how-to-secure-the-management-access-of-your-palo/ba-p/464431 . This issue does not affect Cloud NGFW or Prisma Access software.