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Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2024-3386

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.0.16 / 9.1.17 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 incorrect string comparison vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS software prevents Predefined Decryption Exclusions from functioning as intended. This can cause traffic destined for domains that are not specified in Predefined Decryption Exclusions to be unintentionally excluded from decryption.

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 · moderate confidence

An incorrect string comparison vulnerability in PAN-OS prevents Predefined Decryption Exclusions from functioning as intended. Due to faulty string comparison logic, traffic to domains NOT specified in Predefined Decryption Exclusions is unintentionally excluded from decryption, potentially leaving sensitive traffic unencrypted when it should be decrypted for inspection.

MitigationApply the PAN-OS vendor patch when available. In the interim, audit custom decryption exclusion policies and verify that traffic is being decrypted as intended using firewall logs and traffic analysis.

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:>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.16>= 9.1.0, < 9.1.17>= 10.0.0, < 10.0.13>= 10.1.0, <= 10.1.8>= 10.2.0, < 10.2.4>= 11.0.0, < 11.0.1= 9.0.17= 10.1.9= 10.2.4= 11.0.1

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
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

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. Check PAN-OS version
    Access the firewall web interface under Device > Setup > Operations or use 'show system info' CLI command to confirm the installed PAN-OS version
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 9.0.0-9.0.16, 9.1.0-9.1.17, 10.0.0-10.0.12, 10.1.0-10.1.8, 10.2.0-10.2.3, 11.0.0; or equals exactly 9.0.17, 10.1.9, 10.2.4, or 11.0.1
  2. Verify Decryption is enabled
    Navigate to Policies > Decryption in the firewall GUI or use 'show decryption policy' CLI command to confirm decryption policies are active
    Affected if Decryption policies are configured and enabled on the firewall
  3. Confirm Predefined Decryption Exclusions are in use
    Check Objects > Decryption > Decryption Exclusion List in the GUI or use 'show decryption exclusions' CLI command to see if predefined exclusions are defined
    Affected if Any predefined decryption exclusion entries are configured
  4. Analyze traffic logs for unintended exclusion patterns
    Review Traffic logs and filter for SSL/TLS traffic. Cross-reference with your defined decryption policy to identify traffic flows that should be decrypted but are bypassing decryption
    Affected if Traffic logs show SSL/TLS sessions that match your decryption policy conditions yet are not being decrypted, indicating the string comparison bug is affecting your environment

You are affected if your PAN-OS version is in the listed vulnerable range AND you have decryption policies enabled with predefined exclusions configured, especially if traffic logs show unexpected traffic bypassing decryption when it should be inspected.

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 9.0.16 / 9.1.17 / 10.0.13 or later
Fixed in 9.0.169.1.1710.0.13
Interim mitigation

Apply the PAN-OS vendor patch when available. In the interim, audit custom decryption exclusion policies and verify that traffic is being decrypted as intended using firewall logs and traffic analysis.

Recommended fix High confidence

PAN-OS 9.0.16, 9.1.17, 10.0.13, or 10.1.9 (or later versions within each branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current PAN-OS version running on the affected device
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on the current version and deployment requirements
  3. 3. Review Palo Alto Networks release notes for the target fixed version to understand changes and requirements
  4. 4. Create a backup of the current configuration
  5. 5. Download the appropriate PAN-OS upgrade image from Palo Alto Networks support portal
  6. 6. Upgrade the device to the fixed version (9.0.16, 9.1.17, 10.0.13, or 10.1.9 or higher)
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify that Predefined Decryption Exclusions are functioning correctly
  8. 8. Monitor traffic logs to confirm decryption is being applied as expected
Caveat Standard PAN-OS upgrade considerations apply - review compatibility guides and perform staged testing in non-production environments first

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
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.

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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-2024-3386 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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