Skip to page content

AEGLIX MIND

Intelligence for Africa and the Gulf

AEGLIX vulnerability intelligence

CVE-2020-2021

CRITICAL · CVSS 10.0 · Analyzed

Published: 2020-06-29 · Updated: 2026-06-17 · Source: NVD

Vulnerability overview

When Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication is enabled and the 'Validate Identity Provider Certificate' option is disabled (unchecked), improper verification of signatures in PAN-OS SAML authentication enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to access protected resources. The attacker must have network access to the vulnerable server to exploit this vulnerability. This issue affects PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.3; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.9; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.15, and all versions of PAN-OS 8.0 (EOL). This issue does not affect PAN-OS 7.1. This issue cannot be exploited if SAML is not used for authentication. This issue cannot be exploited if the 'Validate Identity Provider Certificate' option is enabled (checked) in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile. Resources that can be protected by SAML-based single sign-on (SSO) authentication are: GlobalProtect Gateway, GlobalProtect Portal, GlobalProtect Clientless VPN, Authentication and Captive Portal, PAN-OS next-generation firewalls (PA-Series, VM-Series) and Panorama web interfaces, Prisma Access In the case of GlobalProtect Gateways, GlobalProtect Portal, Clientless VPN, Captive Portal, and Prisma Access, an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the affected servers can gain access to protected resources if allowed by configured authentication and Security policies. There is no impact on the integrity and availability of the gateway, portal or VPN server. An attacker cannot inspect or tamper with sessions of regular users. In the worst case, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N). In the case of PAN-OS and Panorama web interfaces, this issue allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the PAN-OS or Panorama web interfaces to log in as an administrator and perform administrative actions. In the worst-case scenario, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). If the web interfaces are only accessible to a restricted management network, then the issue is lowered to a CVSS Base Score of 9.6 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious attempts to exploit this vulnerability.

Severity and scoring

CVSS score
10.0 · CRITICAL
CVSS version
3.1
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weaknesses
CWE-347

CVSS measures technical severity; it does not establish whether this vulnerability is being exploited in your environment.

Known exploitation and remediation

Listed in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Affected product
Palo Alto Networks · PAN-OS
Added to catalog
2022-03-25
Required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
CISA remediation due date
2022-04-15

CISA deadlines apply to the organizations covered by its directives. Confirm your own remediation requirements.

Verify affected versions and patch availability in the vendor advisory before making changes.

Affected products and versions

  • cpe:2.3:o:paloaltonetworks:pan-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

    From (inclusive): 8.0.0

    Through (inclusive): 8.0.20

  • cpe:2.3:o:paloaltonetworks:pan-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

    From (inclusive): 8.1.0

    Before (exclusive): 8.1.15

  • cpe:2.3:o:paloaltonetworks:pan-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

    From (inclusive): 9.0.0

    Before (exclusive): 9.0.9

  • cpe:2.3:o:paloaltonetworks:pan-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

    From (inclusive): 9.1.0

    Before (exclusive): 9.1.3

These are NVD CPE applicability entries. Some products depend on configuration conditions; consult the official record to confirm applicability.

Advisories and references

Explore official sources

Read the official NVD record ↗

Explore the CISA catalog ↗

Back to CVE intelligence