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Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2012-6592

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-08-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.1.9 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS before 3.1.10 and 4.0.x before 4.0.5 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via unspecified vectors, aka Ref ID 31091.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS firewall OS contains a command injection vulnerability allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands. The flaw affects PAN-OS versions before 3.1.10 and 4.0.x before 4.0.5. The CVSS score of 10 indicates the vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication and provides complete compromise of the system.

MitigationUpgrade PAN-OS to version 3.1.10 or later, or 4.0.5 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict management interface access to trusted IP addresses and implement network segmentation to limit exposure.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Pan OsOperating system
Affected:<= 3.1.9= 4.0.0= 4.0.1= 4.0.2= 4.0.3= 4.0.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check PAN-OS version via CLI
    Log into the firewall CLI and run the command `show system info` or `show version` to display the installed PAN-OS version
    Affected if Version is 3.1.9 or lower, or falls within 4.0.0 through 4.0.4 (specifically 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, or 4.0.4)
  2. Check PAN-OS version via web interface
    Access the web management interface, navigate to Device > Setup > Operations, and locate the PAN-OS version displayed on that page
    Affected if Version shown is 3.1.9 or lower, or is 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, or 4.0.4
  3. Verify management interface network exposure
    Review the network configuration to determine if the management interface (MGT interface) is reachable from untrusted networks. Check firewall policies and access control lists governing the MGT port
    Affected if The management interface is accessible from the internet or from untrusted network segments without IP-based access restrictions
  4. Confirm web management service is enabled
    Check if the PAN-OS web interface HTTPS service is enabled on the management interface by reviewing the interface configuration in Network > Interfaces > Management
    Affected if The management web service (HTTPS on port 443) is enabled and listening on the management interface

You are affected if your PAN-OS version is 3.1.9 or lower, or any version from 4.0.0 through 4.0.4, and your management interface is accessible to network attackers.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.1.9
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PAN-OS to version 3.1.10 or later, or 4.0.5 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict management interface access to trusted IP addresses and implement network segmentation to limit exposure.

Recommended fix High confidence

PAN-OS 3.1.10 (or later 3.1.x) or PAN-OS 4.0.5 (or later 4.0.x)

  1. 1. Identify the current PAN-OS version by navigating to Device > Setup > Operations menu or using 'show system info' command
  2. 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade procedure
  3. 3. Backup the current PAN-OS configuration via Device > Setup > Operations > Export named configuration snapshot
  4. 4. For PAN-OS 3.1.x branches: upgrade to PAN-OS 3.1.10 or later
  5. 5. For PAN-OS 4.0.x branches: upgrade to PAN-OS 4.0.5 or later
  6. 6. Upload the appropriate PAN-OS upgrade image via Device > Software > Upload
  7. 7. Install the upgrade and reboot the device
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new version is running with 'show system info'
Caveat Major version upgrades may introduce changes to CLI syntax, API endpoints, or policy behavior - review release notes before upgrading and test in non-production environment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Pan Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-6592 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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