QID 730190

Date Published: 2021-09-16

QID 730190: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS XML External Entity (XXE) Reference Vulnerability in the PAN-OS Web Interface (PAN-166241)

PAN OS is the software that runs all Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls.

An improper restriction of XML external entity (XXE) reference vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS web interface enables an authenticated administrator to read any arbitrary file from the file system and send a specifically crafted request to the firewall that causes the service to crash. Repeated attempts to send this request result in denial of service to all PAN-OS services by restarting the device and putting it into maintenance mode. Affected Versions:
PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.20
PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.14
PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.10
PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.6
QID Detection Logic (Authenticated):
This QID looks for the vulnerable version of PAN-OS via XML API.

An improper restriction of XML external entity (XXE) reference vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS web interface enables an authenticated administrator to read any arbitrary file from the file system and send a specifically crafted request to the firewall that causes the service to crash. Repeated attempts to send this request result in denial of service to all PAN-OS services by restarting the device and putting it into maintenance mode.

  • CVSS V3 rated as High - 6.5 severity.
  • CVSS V2 rated as High - 7.5 severity.
    • Solution

    Refer to PAN-166241 for more information about patching this vulnerability.Workaround:
    Enable signatures for Unique Threat ID 91588 on traffic destined for the web interface to block attacks against CVE-2021-3055. This issue requires the attacker to have authenticated access to the PAN-OS web interface. You can mitigate the impact of this issue by following best practices for securing the PAN-OS web interface. Please review the Best Practices for Securing Administrative Access in the PAN-OS technical documentation at https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/best-practices.

    Vendor References

    CVEs related to QID 730190

    CVE-2021-3055 |
    Software Advisories
    Advisory ID Software Component Link
    PAN-166241 URL Logo security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2021-3055
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