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Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2021-3059

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.8 / 10.1.3 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
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 OS command injection vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS management interface exists when performing dynamic updates. This vulnerability enables a man-in-the-middle attacker to execute arbitrary OS commands to escalate privileges. This issue impacts: PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.20-h1; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.14-h3; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.11-h2; PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.8; PAN-OS 10.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.1.3. Prisma Access customers that have Prisma Access 2.1 Preferred or Prisma Access 2.1 Innovation 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

An OS command injection vulnerability exists in the PAN-OS management interface when performing dynamic updates. A man-in-the-middle attacker can inject and execute arbitrary OS commands with elevated privileges by intercepting the update process.

MitigationUpgrade PAN-OS to the fixed versions (8.1.20-h1, 9.0.14-h3, 9.1.11-h2, 10.0.8, 10.1.3 or later). For Prisma Access, migrate to a non-affected version.

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, <= 9.1.11>= 10.0.0, < 10.0.8>= 10.1.0, < 10.1.3

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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. Verify PAN-OS version
    Run 'show system info' or check the device dashboard to obtain the installed PAN-OS version
    Affected if The installed version falls within 8.1.0-8.1.20, 9.0.0-9.0.14, 9.1.0-9.1.11, 10.0.0-10.0.7, or 10.1.0-10.1.2
  2. Confirm management interface exposure
    Review network access controls and determine if the PAN-OS management interface (HTTPS on port 443) is accessible from untrusted networks
    Affected if The management interface is reachable from networks where a man-in-the-middle attacker could intercept traffic
  3. Check dynamic update configuration
    Navigate to Device > Dynamic Updates in the PAN-OS web interface and inspect whether dynamic updates are scheduled or configured
    Affected if Dynamic updates are enabled and the device is configured to fetch updates from the internet

The environment is affected if the PAN-OS version is within the listed vulnerable ranges AND the management interface is accessible to an attacker who could intercept dynamic update traffic.

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 10.0.8 / 10.1.3 or later
Fixed in 10.0.810.1.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PAN-OS to the fixed versions (8.1.20-h1, 9.0.14-h3, 9.1.11-h2, 10.0.8, 10.1.3 or later). For Prisma Access, migrate to a non-affected version.

Recommended fix High confidence

PAN-OS 8.1.20-h1 or later (8.1.x); PAN-OS 9.0.14-h3 or later (9.0.x); PAN-OS 9.1.11-h2 or later (9.1.x); PAN-OS 10.0.8 or later (10.0.x); PAN-OS 10.1.3 or later (10.1.x)

  1. Identify the current PAN-OS version by navigating to Device > About > General in the web interface or running 'show system info' in the CLI
  2. Determine which upgrade path applies based on your current version (8.1.x, 9.0.x, 9.1.x, or 10.0.x)
  3. Review the Palo Alto Networks Upgrade Guide for your platform to ensure compatibility and prerequisites
  4. Create a backup of the current configuration via Device > Setup > Operations > Save named configuration snapshot
  5. Download the appropriate patched version from the Palo Alto Networks Customer Support Portal: PAN-OS 8.1.20-h1 or later, PAN-OS 9.0.14-h3 or later, PAN-OS 9.1.11-h2 or later, PAN-OS 10.0.8 or later, or PAN-OS 10.1.3 or later
  6. Upload the upgrade file via Device > Software > Upload, or transfer via SCP/SFTP to the firewall
  7. Schedule a maintenance window as upgrades require a brief downtime
  8. Install the upgrade via Device > Software > Install and select the uploaded file
Caveat Review PAN-OS release notes for any feature deprecations or behavior changes between your current version and target version before upgrading; some version jumps may require intermediate upgrades

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

Fix this in Pan Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2021-3059 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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