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Pan OsOperating system · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2026-0281

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.1.16 / 11.2.13 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 6 weeks old

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 information disclosure vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® software enables an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the management web interface to obtain web session tokens. This requires a legitimate user to first click on a malicious link provided by the attacker. The security risk posed by this issue is minimized by restricting access to the management web interface to only trusted internal IP addresses according to our recommended best practice deployment guidelines https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/community-blogs/tips-amp-tricks-how-to-secure-the-management-access-of-your-palo/ba-p/464431 . This issue is applicable to PAN-OS software on PA-Series and VM-Series firewalls and on Panorama (virtual and M-Series). Cloud NGFW and Prisma® Access are not impacted by this vulnerability.

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

This is an information disclosure vulnerability in PAN-OS management web interface that allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to obtain valid web session tokens by tricking a legitimate user into clicking a malicious link. The attack combines network proximity with social engineering (phishing) to steal session credentials.

MitigationRestrict management web interface access to trusted internal IP addresses only, and apply PAN-OS software patches when released by Palo Alto Networks.

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:>= 10.2.0, < 11.1.16>= 11.2.0, < 11.2.13>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.8

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/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. Confirm PAN-OS is the running firewall OS
    Access the firewall CLI and run 'show system info' or check the web interface for Palo Alto Networks branding
    Affected if The device is not running PAN-OS (not vulnerable)
  2. Identify the installed PAN-OS version
    Run 'show system info' in the CLI or check the Dashboard in the web interface to locate the PAN-OS version number
    Affected if The version falls within >= 10.2.0 and < 11.1.16, >= 11.2.0 and < 11.2.13, or >= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.8
  3. Check if management web interface is network accessible
    Review the network configuration to determine if the management interface (HTTPS port 443) is exposed to untrusted or external networks
    Affected if The management web interface is accessible from untrusted networks

The environment is affected if PAN-OS version falls within the specified vulnerable ranges and the management web interface is accessible to unauthenticated attackers on untrusted networks.

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 11.1.16 / 11.2.13 / 12.1.8 or later
Fixed in 11.1.1611.2.1312.1.8
Interim mitigation

Restrict management web interface access to trusted internal IP addresses only, and apply PAN-OS software patches when released by Palo Alto Networks.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to PAN-OS 11.1.16 or later in the 11.1 branch, 11.2.13 or later in the 11.2 branch, or 12.1.8 or later in the 12.1 branch. For production environments, upgrade to the most recent stable release in your version branch (e.g., 11.1.x, 11.2.x, or 12.1.x).

  1. 1. Identify your current PAN-OS version by navigating to Device > Support in the web interface or via CLI: show system info
  2. 2. Determine which version branch you are on (10.2.x, 11.1.x, 11.2.x, or 12.1.x)
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed PAN-OS release for your hardware model from the Palo Alto Networks Support Portal: https://support.paloaltonetworks.com/
  4. 4. Upload the update to the firewall: Device > Software > Upload
  5. 5. Install the update: Device > Software > Install and select the uploaded version
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the version installed correctly and test core functionality
  7. 7. As a supplementary security measure, restrict management web interface access to trusted internal IP addresses only: Network > Network Profiles > Interface Management, or configure a dedicated management interface with an administrative firewall policy allowing only specific source IPs
Caveat Major version upgrades (e.g., 10.2 to 11.x) may introduce behavioral changes; review release notes for your target version and test in a staging environment before deploying to production.

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
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
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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-2026-0281 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