dbcve.org
GlobalprotectApplication · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2024-5921

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.6 / 6.1.7 or later.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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 insufficient certification validation issue in the Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect app enables attackers to connect the GlobalProtect app to arbitrary servers. This can enable a local non-administrative operating system user or an attacker on the same subnet to install malicious root certificates on the endpoint and subsequently install malicious software signed by the malicious root certificates on that endpoint. Please subscribe to our RSS feed https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/rss.xml to be alerted to new updates to this and other advisories.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-295

The application does not properly validate the TLS certificate presented by the other side — skipping the chain, the hostname, or expiry — so an attacker with a forged or mismatched certificate can sit in the middle of a supposedly secure connection. It is a common trap in custom clients and misconfigured libraries. The fix is full certificate validation, and never disabling verification to make errors go away.

General guidance for the improper certificate validation class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
GlobalprotectApplication
Affected:>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.6>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.7>= 6.1.0, < 6.2.1>= 6.1.0, < 6.2.6>= 6.3.0, < 6.3.2

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 6.1.6 / 6.1.7 / 6.2.1 or later
Fixed in 6.1.66.1.76.2.1
Recommended fix Moderate confidence

GlobalProtect version 6.2.6 or later (or 6.1.7+ for the 6.1.x branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current GlobalProtect version by checking the installed application or using 'gp-cli -version' or checking the Windows Add/Remove Programs.
  2. 2. Determine which version branch (6.1.x or 6.2.x) is currently installed.
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version from the Palo Alto Networks support portal at https://support.paloaltonetworks.com/ or from the official software distribution channels.
  4. 4. Upgrade GlobalProtect to version 6.2.6 or later for the 6.2.x branch, or to version 6.1.7 or later for the 6.1.x branch.
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the certificate validation is working correctly by checking the GlobalProtect logs and ensuring connections are to legitimate servers.
  6. 6. Consider implementing additional certificate pinning or validation controls as a defense-in-depth measure.
Caveat Upgrading GlobalProtect may require re-authentication or reconfiguration of VPN profiles; test in a non-production environment first

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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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-2024-5921 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
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