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Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2020-2011

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-05-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.1.14 / 9.1.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An improper input validation vulnerability in the configuration daemon of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Panorama allows for a remote unauthenticated user to send a specifically crafted registration request to the device that causes the configuration service to crash. Repeated attempts to send this request result in denial of service to all PAN-OS Panorama services by restarting the device and putting it into maintenance mode. This issue affects: All versions of PAN-OS 7.1, PAN-OS 8.0; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.14; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.7; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than 9.1.0.

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

This is an improper input validation vulnerability in the configuration daemon of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Panorama. A remote unauthenticated attacker can send a specially crafted registration request that crashes the configuration service. Repeated exploitation leads to denial of service as the device restarts into maintenance mode.

MitigationUpgrade PAN-OS Panorama to a fixed version (PAN-OS 8.1.14, 9.0.7, 9.1.0 or later). Until upgraded, restrict network access to the management interface and implement network segmentation to limit exposure to unauthenticated attackers.

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, < 8.1.14>= 9.0.0, < 9.1.0

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Confirm device is Panorama
    Run 'show system info' or check the appliance model type - Panorama is a centralized management appliance, not a firewall. Look for Panorama-specific model numbers or the 'Panorama' designation in system information.
    Affected if The device is a Panorama appliance running affected PAN-OS versions
  2. Check installed PAN-OS version
    Run 'show system info' or 'request system software info' to retrieve the PAN-OS version number.
    Affected if Version falls within 7.1.0-7.1.26, 8.0.0-8.0.20, 8.1.0-8.1.13, or 9.0.0-9.0.6 (these are the vulnerable versions)
  3. Verify Panorama management interface exposure
    Check network accessibility of the management interface (MGT or dedicated Panorama interfaces) from untrusted networks. Run 'show interface management' and review firewall rules or ACLs controlling access to ports 3978 (registration) and 443 (management).
    Affected if The management interface or registration port 3978 is reachable from untrusted/unauthenticated network segments
  4. Check if device has been crashing or entering maintenance mode
    Review system logs, crash dumps, and boot sequence history. Check 'show system log-files' or 'show system raids status' for repeated restarts or configuration service failures.
    Affected if The device shows repeated unexpected restarts into maintenance mode or configuration daemon crash events in logs

A Panorama appliance is affected if it runs a vulnerable PAN-OS version (7.1.0-7.1.26, 8.0.0-8.0.20, 8.1.0-8.1.13, or 9.0.0-9.0.6) and has its management or registration interface exposed to untrusted networks.

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 8.1.14 / 9.1.0 or later
Fixed in 8.1.149.1.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PAN-OS Panorama to a fixed version (PAN-OS 8.1.14, 9.0.7, 9.1.0 or later). Until upgraded, restrict network access to the management interface and implement network segmentation to limit exposure to unauthenticated attackers.

Fix this in Pan Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2020-2011 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data