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Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2017-7945

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.1.15 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
The GlobalProtect external interface in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS before 6.1.17, 7.x before 7.0.15, 7.1.x before 7.1.9, and 8.x before 8.0.2 provides different error messages for failed login attempts depending on whether the username exists, which allows remote attackers to enumerate account names and conduct brute-force attacks via a series of requests, aka PAN-SA-2017-0014 and PAN-72769.

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 · high confidence

The GlobalProtect external interface in PAN-OS before versions 6.1.17, 7.0.15, 7.1.9, and 8.0.2 returns distinct error messages for authentication failures depending on whether the submitted username exists in the system. This username enumeration flaw enables remote attackers to identify valid accounts and subsequently conduct brute-force password attacks against the VPN gateway.

MitigationUpgrade to PAN-OS 6.1.17, 7.0.15, 7.1.9, 8.0.2 or later. As a compensating control, implement aggressive rate limiting and account lockout policies on the GlobalProtect interface to hinder enumeration and brute-force attempts.

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:<= 6.1.15= 7.0.0= 7.0.1= 7.0.2= 7.0.3= 7.0.4= 7.0.5= 7.0.6= 7.0.7= 7.0.8= 7.0.9= 7.0.10

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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
    Log into the Palo Alto Networks device or check the device info through the management interface. Run 'show system info' or navigate to Dashboard > General Information to view the PAN-OS version.
    Affected if The installed version is PAN-OS 6.1.15 or lower, or any version 7.0.0 through 7.0.10.
  2. Confirm GlobalProtect is enabled
    Navigate to Network > GlobalProtect > Portals or Gateways in the PAN-OS web interface. Verify if any GlobalProtect portals or gateways are configured and enabled.
    Affected if GlobalProtect is active and accessible from external networks.
  3. Test for username enumeration
    From an external network, attempt to authenticate to the GlobalProtect interface with two different usernames: one known to be valid (or a guess) and one known to be invalid. Compare the error messages returned for each attempt.
    Affected if The error message for a valid username differs from the error message for an invalid username (for example, one says 'Invalid credentials' while the other says 'User not found' or similar distinct messages).

A system is affected if it runs PAN-OS 6.1.15 or earlier, or any PAN-OS 7.0.x version up to 7.0.10, and has an externally accessible GlobalProtect interface that returns different error messages for valid versus invalid usernames.

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 6.1.15
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to PAN-OS 6.1.17, 7.0.15, 7.1.9, 8.0.2 or later. As a compensating control, implement aggressive rate limiting and account lockout policies on the GlobalProtect interface to hinder enumeration and brute-force attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

PAN-OS 6.1.17+ (6.1.x branch), 7.0.15+ (7.0.x branch), 7.1.9+ (7.1.x branch), or 8.0.2+ (8.0.x branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current PAN-OS version by navigating to Device > Support or using 'show system info' in the CLI
  2. 2. Based on current version, determine the minimum fixed release: if on 6.1.x upgrade to 6.1.17+, if on 7.0.x upgrade to 7.0.15+, if on 7.1.x upgrade to 7.1.9+, if on 8.0.x upgrade to 8.0.2+
  3. 3. Review Palo Alto Networks Upgrade Guide for pre-upgrade requirements
  4. 4. Backup the PAN-OS configuration using Device > Setup > Operations > Save config to file
  5. 5. Download the appropriate PAN-OS update from Palo Alto Networks Support Portal
  6. 6. Upload and install the update via Device > Software > Upload, then Install
  7. 7. After reboot, verify the fix by testing GlobalProtect login attempts - both valid and invalid usernames should now return consistent error messages
  8. 8. Confirm the version is now running a fixed release
Caveat Review Palo Alto Networks compatibility and upgrade guides for any changes between minor versions; major version jumps (e.g., 6.x to 7.x) may have feature/behavior changes requiring testing

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

Fix this in Pan Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,330
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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-2017-7945 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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