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Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2021-3056

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.1.20 / 9.0.14 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
A memory corruption vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS GlobalProtect Clientless VPN enables an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code with root user privileges during SAML authentication. This issue impacts: PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.20; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.14; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.9; PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.1. Prisma Access customers with Prisma Access 2.1 Preferred firewalls are impacted by this issue.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in PAN-OS GlobalProtect Clientless VPN during SAML authentication allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code with root user privileges. The flaw exists in the VPN component's SAML authentication processing logic.

MitigationUpgrade PAN-OS to version 8.1.20, 9.0.14, 9.1.9, 10.0.1 or later. Prisma Access customers should apply the relevant Prisma Access fix.

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:>= 8.1.0, < 8.1.20>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.14>= 9.1.0, < 9.1.9= 10.0.0

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
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. Determine PAN-OS version
    Log into the PAN-OS web interface and navigate to Device > Support, or run the command 'show system info' in the CLI to retrieve the installed PAN-OS version number
    Affected if The installed version falls within these ranges: 8.1.0 to 8.1.19, 9.0.0 to 9.0.13, 9.1.0 to 9.1.8, or exactly 10.0.0
  2. Verify GlobalProtect Clientless VPN is enabled
    In the PAN-OS web interface, navigate to Network > GlobalProtect > Clientless VPN and check if any Clientless VPN portals are configured and enabled
    Affected if Any Clientless VPN portal configuration exists and is active
  3. Confirm SAML authentication is in use
    Navigate to Network > GlobalProtect > Portals (or Gateways), select the Clientless VPN configuration, and inspect the Authentication settings under the portal or gateway settings to determine if SAML is selected as the authentication method
    Affected if SAML authentication is configured as the authentication method for the Clientless VPN portal or gateway

You are affected if your PAN-OS version is within the affected ranges AND GlobalProtect Clientless VPN is enabled with SAML authentication configured.

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 8.1.20 / 9.0.14 / 9.1.9 or later
Fixed in 8.1.209.0.149.1.9
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PAN-OS to version 8.1.20, 9.0.14, 9.1.9, 10.0.1 or later. Prisma Access customers should apply the relevant Prisma Access fix.

Recommended fix High confidence

PAN-OS 8.1.20, 9.0.14, 9.1.9, or 10.0.1 and later (select based on your current major version branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current PAN-OS version running on the affected firewall
  2. 2. Download the appropriate fixed PAN-OS version from the Palo Alto Networks support portal: PAN-OS 8.1.20, 9.0.14, 9.1.9, or 10.0.1 and later
  3. 3. Review PAN-OS upgrade guide and release notes for pre-upgrade compatibility checks
  4. 4. Create a backup of the current configuration
  5. 5. Schedule a maintenance window as upgrades require downtime
  6. 6. Upload the software bundle to the firewall or Panorama controller
  7. 7. Perform the upgrade following Palo Alto Networks official upgrade procedures
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade completed successfully and the version matches the expected fixed release
Caveat Standard PAN-OS upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for compatibility with existing features and third-party integrations; upgrades require downtime

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

Fix this in Pan Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,880
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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-2021-3056 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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