Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks
CVE-2020-2027
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 · uneditedA buffer overflow vulnerability in the authd component of the PAN-OS management server allows authenticated administrators to disrupt system processes and potentially execute arbitrary code with root privileges. This issue affects: All versions of PAN-OS 7.1 and PAN-OS 8.0; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.13; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.7.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow in the authd (authentication daemon) component of PAN-OS management server allows authenticated administrators to disrupt system processes and potentially achieve arbitrary code execution with root privileges. This is a local privilege escalation within the management interface context, requiring high-privileged admin access.
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
>= 7.1.0, <= 7.1.26>= 8.0.0, <= 8.0.20>= 8.1.0, < 8.1.13>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.7CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check PAN-OS versionLog into the PAN-OS device via CLI and run: `show system info` or `show version`. Look for the 'sw-version' or 'PanOS' version field.Affected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: 7.1.0-7.1.26, 8.0.0-8.0.20, 8.1.0-8.1.12, or 9.0.0-9.0.6.
-
Verify management interface accessibilityCheck the management interface configuration via CLI: `show management interface` or review the network settings to determine if the management interface (TCP port 443) is exposed to untrusted networks.Affected if The management interface is accessible from networks outside the trusted admin group.
-
Confirm high-privileged admin accounts existReview admin accounts with superuser or privilege escalation capabilities via: `show admin role` or by checking the admin user list with `show admins`.Affected if There are multiple high-privileged administrator accounts, increasing the attack surface for this vulnerability.
-
Check authd process statusVerify the authentication daemon is running via CLI: `show system resources` or `show process system` to confirm the authd process is active.Affected if The authd process is running, which is required for the buffer overflow to be exploitable.
You are affected if your PAN-OS version is 7.1.0-7.1.26, 8.0.0-8.0.20, 8.1.0-8.1.12, or 9.0.0-9.0.6 AND your management interface is accessible to administrators beyond a limited trusted group.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data8.1.139.0.7
Upgrade PAN-OS to version 8.1.13 or later (8.x branch), 9.0.7 or later (9.x branch), or migrate to 7.1+ for 7.x deployments. As a compensating control, restrict management interface access to a limited trusted admin group.
Fix this in Pan Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-2027 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-2027 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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.
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.
- 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