dbcve.org
Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2021-3063

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.1.21 / 10.1.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 improper handling of exceptional conditions vulnerability exists in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect portal and gateway interfaces that enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to send specifically crafted traffic to a GlobalProtect interface that causes the service to stop responding. Repeated attempts to send this request result in denial of service to all PAN-OS services by restarting the device and putting it into maintenance mode. This issue impacts: PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.21; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.14-h4; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.11-h3; PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.8-h4; PAN-OS 10.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.1.3. Prisma Access customers are not 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 improper handling of exceptional conditions vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect portal and gateway allows unauthenticated network-based attackers to send specially crafted traffic that causes the GlobalProtect service to stop responding. Repeated exploitation leads to complete denial of service, causing the device to restart and enter maintenance mode.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied PAN-OS updates: upgrade to PAN-OS 8.1.21, 9.0.14-h4, 9.1.11-h3, 10.0.8-h4, or 10.1.3 or later. Plan maintenance window as updates may require device restart.

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, < 8.1.21>= 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 GlobalProtect is enabled
    Log into the PAN-OS web interface or CLI and check the GlobalProtect configuration. In CLI, run: 'show global-protect' or check Network > GlobalProtect > Portals/Gateways in the GUI.
    Affected if GlobalProtect portal or gateway is configured and exposed to network traffic. If GlobalProtect is not enabled, the device is not affected by this vulnerability.
  2. Check PAN-OS version
    In the PAN-OS CLI, run: 'show system info' or 'request system software info'. In the web interface, go to Device > Support.
    Affected if The installed PAN-OS version falls within any of these ranges: 8.1.0 to 8.1.20, 9.0.0 to 9.0.14, 9.1.0 to 9.1.11, 10.0.0 to 10.0.8, or 10.1.0 to 10.1.2. Devices running versions outside these ranges (such as 8.1.21+, 9.0.14-h4+, 9.1.11-h3+, 10.0.8-h4+, or 10.1.3+) are not affected.
  3. Confirm GlobalProtect service is internet-facing
    Review the network configuration to determine if the GlobalProtect interface (usually external or untrusted interface) is accessible from the internet or untrusted networks.
    Affected if The GlobalProtect portal or gateway is reachable from untrusted networks. Attackers require network access to send the specially crafted traffic that triggers the vulnerability.

A device is affected if it runs a vulnerable PAN-OS version (8.1.0-8.1.20, 9.0.0-9.0.14, 9.1.0-9.1.11, 10.0.0-10.0.8, or 10.1.0-10.1.2) AND has GlobalProtect portal or gateway enabled and accessible to unauthenticated network 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 8.1.21 / 10.1.3 or later
Fixed in 8.1.2110.1.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied PAN-OS updates: upgrade to PAN-OS 8.1.21, 9.0.14-h4, 9.1.11-h3, 10.0.8-h4, or 10.1.3 or later. Plan maintenance window as updates may require device restart.

Recommended fix High confidence

PAN-OS 8.1.21+ / 9.0.14-h4+ / 9.1.11-h3+ / 10.0.8-h4+ / 10.1.3+ (depending on your current major version)

  1. 1. Identify the current PAN-OS version on the affected GlobalProtect portal and gateway devices.
  2. 2. For PAN-OS 8.1.x devices, upgrade to PAN-OS 8.1.21 or later.
  3. 3. For PAN-OS 9.0.x devices, upgrade to PAN-OS 9.0.14-h4 or later (or any version above 9.0.14).
  4. 4. For PAN-OS 9.1.x devices, upgrade to PAN-OS 9.1.11-h3 or later (or any version above 9.1.11).
  5. 5. For PAN-OS 10.0.x devices, upgrade to PAN-OS 10.0.8-h4 or later (or any version above 10.0.8).
  6. 6. For PAN-OS 10.1.x devices, upgrade to PAN-OS 10.1.3 or later.
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade was successful and the GlobalProtect service responds normally.
  8. 8. Test that the GlobalProtect portal and gateway accept legitimate connections.
Caveat Review PAN-OS upgrade considerations including compatibility with Panorama, content updates, and potential impact to active VPN sessions; backup configuration before upgrading

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

Fix this in Pan Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-3063 — 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-2021-3063 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