title: 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.
problem types: CWE-287 Improper Authentication
affected:
{
product: PAN-OS
vendor: Palo Alto Networks
versions:
status: affected, version: 8.0.*
changes: [at: 7.1.26, status: unaffected], lessThan: 7.1.26, status: affected, version: 7.1, versionType: custom
changes: [at: 8.1.12, status: unaffected], lessThan: 8.1.12, status: affected, version: 8.1, versionType: custom
changes: [at: 9.0.6, status: unaffected], lessThan: 9.0.6, status: affected, version: 9.0, versionType: custom
}
metrics:
cvssV3_1: [
attackComplexity: HIGH
attackVector: NETWORK
availabilityImpact: HIGH
baseScore: 9
baseSeverity: CRITICAL
confidentialityImpact: HIGH
integrityImpact: HIGH
privilegesRequired: NONE
scope: CHANGED
userInteraction: NONE
vectorString: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
version: 3.1
]
solutions: 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.
workarounds: 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