dbcve.org
Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2020-1998

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-05-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.1.26 / 8.1.13 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
An improper authorization vulnerability in PAN-OS that mistakenly uses the permissions of local linux users instead of the intended SAML permissions of the account when the username is shared for the purposes of SSO authentication. This can result in authentication bypass and unintended resource access for the user. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.13; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than 9.1.1; All versions of PAN-OS 8.0.

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

An improper authorization vulnerability in PAN-OS causes the system to incorrectly apply the permissions of local Linux users instead of the intended SAML permissions when a username is shared between local and SSO accounts. This authentication bypass allows users to gain unintended resource access.

MitigationUpgrade PAN-OS to version 7.1.26 or later, 8.1.13 or later, 9.0.6 or later, 9.1.1 or later, or beyond 8.0 entirely. For PAN-OS 8.0, there is no fix available and upgrade is required.

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:>= 7.1.0, < 7.1.26>= 8.0.0, <= 8.0.20>= 8.1.0, < 8.1.13>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.6>= 9.1.0, < 9.1.1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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
    Run the command to display the system software version, typically via 'show system info' or through the web interface under Device > Setup > Operations > Panel', and compare the version number to the affected ranges: 7.1.0 to 7.1.25, 8.0.0 to 8.0.20, 8.1.0 to 8.1.12, 9.0.0 to 9.0.5, or 9.1.0
    Affected if The installed PAN-OS version falls within any of the listed vulnerable version ranges
  2. Verify SAML authentication is configured
    Inspect the authentication profile settings in PAN-OS under Device > Authentication Profile, or check if SAML-based Single Sign-On is enabled in the system configuration
    Affected if SAML/SSO authentication profiles are configured and active on the firewall
  3. Identify local Linux users
    Review the local user accounts configured in the firewall under Device > Local User Database > Users, or use the command line to list local user accounts
    Affected if Local Linux user accounts exist on the system
  4. Check for username overlap between local and SSO accounts
    Compare the list of local user account names against the usernames used in the SAML/SSO identity provider configuration to identify any matches
    Affected if Any local user account name matches a username used in the SAML/SSO authentication chain, creating the condition where local permissions could be applied instead of SAML permissions

You are affected if your PAN-OS version is within the vulnerable range AND SAML authentication is configured AND a local user account shares the same username as an SSO/SAML user, allowing local permission bypass of SAML permissions.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.1.26 / 8.1.13 / 9.0.6 or later
Fixed in 7.1.268.1.139.0.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PAN-OS to version 7.1.26 or later, 8.1.13 or later, 9.0.6 or later, 9.1.1 or later, or beyond 8.0 entirely. For PAN-OS 8.0, there is no fix available and upgrade is required.

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.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-1998 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-1998 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data