Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks
CVE-2020-2029
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 · uneditedAn OS Command Injection vulnerability in the PAN-OS web management interface allows authenticated administrators to execute arbitrary OS commands with root privileges by sending a malicious request to generate new certificates for use in the PAN-OS configuration. This issue affects: All versions of PAN-OS 8.0; PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.13.
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 confidenceOS Command Injection vulnerability in PAN-OS web management interface allowing authenticated administrators to execute arbitrary OS commands with root privileges via malicious certificate generation requests.
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, < 8.1.13CVSS 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.
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Identify PAN-OS versionLog into the PAN-OS web interface and navigate to Device > Support, or use the CLI command 'show system info' to view the PAN-OS version installed.Affected if The installed version falls within these ranges: 7.1.0 to 7.1.25, 8.0.0 to 8.0.20, or 8.1.0 to 8.1.12.
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Confirm web management interface is enabledIn the PAN-OS web interface, go to Device > Setup > Management > General Settings and verify that the Management Web Server is enabled, or use the CLI command 'show system setting web-server' to check its status.Affected if The web management interface is enabled and accessible on the network.
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Verify administrative accounts existIn the PAN-OS web interface, go to Device > Administrators to list configured administrator accounts, or use the CLI command 'show admins' to view all administrative users.Affected if At least one administrator account is configured with access to the web management interface.
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Check management interface accessibilityVerify network accessibility of the web management interface (typically ports 443 or 8080) from untrusted networks by reviewing firewall policies or network access lists.Affected if The web management interface is reachable from untrusted or external networks.
A defender is affected if their PAN-OS version is within 7.1.0-7.1.25, 8.0.0-8.0.20, or 8.1.0-8.1.12 AND the web management interface is enabled with at least one administrative account configured.
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 data7.1.268.1.13
Upgrade to PAN-OS 7.1.26 or later, PAN-OS 8.1.13 or later, or a version beyond PAN-OS 8.0; alternatively, restrict administrative access to the web management interface to reduce attack surface.
Fix this in Pan Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-2029 — 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-2020-2029 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
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- 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
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