CVE-2020-1978 VM-Series on Microsoft Azure: Inadvertent collection of credentials in Tech support files on HA configured VMs
High availability configurations inadvertently expose Azure Contributor credentials in tech support files, allowing unauthorized management of cloud resources.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-1978?
CVE-2020-1978 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 8 Apr 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
TechSupport files generated on Palo Alto Networks VM Series firewalls for Microsoft Azure platform configured with high availability (HA) inadvertently collect Azure dashboard service account credentials. These credentials are equivalent to the credentials associated with the Contributor role in Azure. A user with the credentials will be able to manage all the Azure resources in the subscription except for granting access to other resources. These credentials do not allow login access to the VMs themselves. This issue affects VM Series Plugin versions before 1.0.9 for PAN-OS 9.0. This issue does not affect VM Series in non-HA configurations or on other cloud platforms. It does not affect hardware firewall appliances. Since becoming aware of the issue, Palo Alto Networks has safely deleted all the tech support files with the credentials. We now filter and remove these credentials from all TechSupport files sent to us. The TechSupport files uploaded to Palo Alto Networks systems were only accessible by authorized personnel with valid Palo Alto Networks credentials. We do not have any evidence of malicious access or use of these credentials.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1978?
It affects 2 products.
Products include Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, Paloaltonetworks Vm-Series.
How do I fix CVE-2020-1978?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1978 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-1978 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1978 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os
- CVE-2024-3400 Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Command Injection
- CVE-2020-2021 Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Authentication Bypass
- CVE-2017-15944 Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Remote Code Execution
- CVE-2026-0300 Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Out-of-bounds Write
- CVE-2024-0012 Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Management Interface Authentication Bypass
Sources
Also known as GHSA-4qj8-98mv-2vmv.