dbcve.org
Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2020-2018

CRITICAL · 9.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-05-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.1.26 / 8.1.12 or later.
See remediation →
99/100
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
An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Panorama context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to a Panorama's management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls. An attacker requires some knowledge of managed firewalls to exploit this issue. This issue does not affect Panorama configured with custom certificates authentication for communication between Panorama and managed devices. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; 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

Authentication bypass in Panorama's context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to the management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls without proper credential validation. The vulnerability exploits the trust relationship between Panorama and managed devices during context switching operations.

MitigationApply vendor patches by upgrading to PAN-OS 7.1.26, 8.1.12, 9.0.6 or later (8.0 has no fix and requires upgrade to a supported version). Alternatively, configure custom certificates for Panorama-managed device communication.

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, < 8.1.12>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.6

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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. Confirm Panorama deployment
    Check if Palo Alto Networks Panorama appliance is deployed in the environment by reviewing network topology or management inventory.
    Affected if Panorama is not deployed, the vulnerability does not apply as it targets Panorama's context switching feature.
  2. Check Panorama PAN-OS version
    Access Panorama CLI and run 'show system info' or use the web interface under Dashboard > General Information to view the PAN-OS version.
    Affected if The installed PAN-OS version falls within any of these ranges: 7.1.0 to 7.1.25, 8.0.0 to 8.0.20, 8.1.0 to 8.1.11, or 9.0.0 to 9.0.5.
  3. Verify context switching configuration
    In Panorama web interface, navigate to Device > Setup > Management > Context Switch Settings, or run 'show panorama-main' in CLI to check if managed devices are configured for context switching.
    Affected if Panorama has managed firewalls configured and context switching is enabled, creating the trust relationship this CVE exploits.
  4. Review management interface exposure
    Check network accessibility of Panorama management interface (ports 443/80) by reviewing firewall rules or performing a port scan from external networks.
    Affected if The Panorama management interface is accessible from untrusted networks, allowing the attacker network access described in the CVE.

A user is affected if Panorama is deployed with a vulnerable PAN-OS version (listed above), has managed devices configured, and the management interface is network-accessible to potential 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 7.1.26 / 8.1.12 / 9.0.6 or later
Fixed in 7.1.268.1.129.0.6
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches by upgrading to PAN-OS 7.1.26, 8.1.12, 9.0.6 or later (8.0 has no fix and requires upgrade to a supported version). Alternatively, configure custom certificates for Panorama-managed device communication.

Recommended fix High confidence

PAN-OS 7.1.26, 8.0.21+, 8.1.12, or 9.0.6 (depending on your current major version branch)

  1. Back up the Panorama configuration before upgrading
  2. Verify compatibility of current managed firewall versions with the target PAN-OS version
  3. Plan a maintenance window as upgrades require downtime
  4. Download the appropriate PAN-OS upgrade image from Palo Alto Networks support portal
  5. Upload the upgrade to Panorama and push to the Panorama appliance
  6. Confirm successful upgrade by verifying the PAN-OS version matches the fixed release
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply: backup configuration, test in non-production first, ensure managed devices are compatible

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

Fix this in Pan Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-2018 — 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-2020-2018 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