Full Report
Attackers can take advantage of vulnerabilities in the PAN-OS management interface to execute arbitrary code with superuser privileges.
Analysis Summary
# Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Management Interface
## CVE Details
- **CVE ID:** CVE-2017-15944
- **CVSS Score:** 9.8 (Critical)
- **CWE:** CWE-288 (Authentication Bypass), CWE-22 (Path Traversal), CWE-78 (Command Injection)
## Affected Systems
- **Products:** Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls
- **Versions:** PAN-OS 6.1.18 and earlier, PAN-OS 7.0.18 and earlier, PAN-OS 7.1.13 and earlier, PAN-OS 8.0.5 and earlier.
- **Configurations:** Systems where the PAN-OS management interface is accessible (specifically via the web interface).
## Vulnerability Description
The vulnerability is a chain of three distinct security flaws located within the PAN-OS management web interface. When combined, they allow an unauthenticated attacker to achieve remote code execution (RCE) as the "root" user:
1. **Authentication Bypass:** A flaw in the internal logic allows attackers to bypass the login page and access administrative components.
2. **Path Traversal:** Faulty input validation allows for file manipulation on the underlying operating system.
3. **Command Injection:** An attacker can inject arbitrary system commands into specific parameters, which the system then executes with superuser (root) privileges.
## Exploitation
- **Status:** Exploited in the wild; Public PoC available.
- **Complexity:** Low
- **Attack Vector:** Network (Remote)
## Impact
- **Confidentiality:** Total (Attacker can access all data on the device).
- **Integrity:** Total (Attacker can modify system configurations and traffic).
- **Availability:** Total (Attacker can disable the firewall or disrupt network traffic).
## Remediation
### Patches
Palo Alto Networks has released the following patched versions to address these flaws:
- PAN-OS 6.1.19
- PAN-OS 7.0.19
- PAN-OS 7.1.14
- PAN-OS 8.0.6
### Workarounds
- **Restrict Management Access:** The primary mitigation is to ensure the management interface is not accessible from the internet. Restrict access to a dedicated, isolated management VLAN.
- **Access Control Lists (ACLs):** Implement strict IP-based ACLs to limit management access to known, trusted administrator workstations.
## Detection
- **Indicators of Compromise:** Look for unusual administrative logins from unexpected IP addresses or anomalous file creations in `/var/appweb/htdocs/`.
- **Detection methods and tools:**
- Review web server logs for the management interface for suspicious path traversal patterns (e.g., `../`).
- Palo Alto Networks Content Release 754 (and later) includes signatures (ID 30514) to detect exploitation attempts of this specific vulnerability chain.
## References
- **Vendor Advisory:** hxxps[://]securityadvisories[.]paloaltonetworks[.]com/Home/Detail/102
- **NVD Entry:** hxxps[://]nvd[.]nist[.]gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15944
- **Security Research (Original Discovery):** hxxps[://]vulners[.]com/kaspersky/KLA11162