CVE-2020-2021

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Summary

CVECVE-2020-2021
StatePUBLIC
Assigner[email protected]
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2020-06-29 15:15:00 UTC
Updated2020-07-06 14:39:00 UTC
DescriptionWhen Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication is enabled and the 'Validate Identity Provider Certificate' option is disabled (unchecked), improper verification of signatures in PAN-OS SAML authentication enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to access protected resources. The attacker must have network access to the vulnerable server to exploit this vulnerability. This issue affects PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.3; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.9; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.15, and all versions of PAN-OS 8.0 (EOL). This issue does not affect PAN-OS 7.1. This issue cannot be exploited if SAML is not used for authentication. This issue cannot be exploited if the 'Validate Identity Provider Certificate' option is enabled (checked) in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile. Resources that can be protected by SAML-based single sign-on (SSO) authentication are: GlobalProtect Gateway, GlobalProtect Portal, GlobalProtect Clientless VPN, Authentication and Captive Portal, PAN-OS next-generation firewalls (PA-Series, VM-Series) and Panorama web interfaces, Prisma Access In the case of GlobalProtect Gateways, GlobalProtect Portal, Clientless VPN, Captive Portal, and Prisma Access, an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the affected servers can gain access to protected resources if allowed by configured authentication and Security policies. There is no impact on the integrity and availability of the gateway, portal or VPN server. An attacker cannot inspect or tamper with sessions of regular users. In the worst case, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N). In the case of PAN-OS and Panorama web interfaces, this issue allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the PAN-OS or Panorama web interfaces to log in as an administrator and perform administrative actions. In the worst-case scenario, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). If the web interfaces are only accessible to a restricted management network, then the issue is lowered to a CVSS Base Score of 9.6 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious attempts to exploit this vulnerability.

Risk And Classification

EPSS: 0.043620000 probability, percentile 0.902350000 (date 2026-07-22)

CISA KEV: Listed on 2022-03-25; due 2022-04-15; ransomware use Known

Problem Types: CWE-347

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

VendorPalo Alto Networks
ProductPAN-OS
NamePalo Alto Networks PAN-OS Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Required ActionApply updates per vendor instructions.
Noteshttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-2021

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Paloaltonetworks Pan-os All All All All
Operating System Paloaltonetworks Pan-os All All All All
Operating System Paloaltonetworks Pan-os All All All All

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
CVE-2020-2021 PAN-OS: Authentication Bypass in SAML Authentication CONFIRM security.paloaltonetworks.com Vendor Advisory
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog CISA www.cisa.gov kev

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

LEGACY: Palo Alto Networks thanks Salman Khan from the Cyber Risk and Resilience Team and Cameron Duck from the Identity Services Team at Monash University for discovering and reporting this issue.

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