# 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. - **Severity:** Medium 5.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H`) - **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 available:** No - **Published:** 8 Apr 2020 - **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024 - **Also known as:** GHSA-4qj8-98mv-2vmv ## 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. Weakness: CWE-522 (Insufficiently Protected Credentials), CWE-255 ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1978? It affects 2 products. Products: 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](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-3400/): Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Command Injection (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2020-2021](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-2021/): Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Authentication Bypass (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2017-15944](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15944/): Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-0300](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-0300/): Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2024-0012](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-0012/): Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Management Interface Authentication Bypass (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2020-1978 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: 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. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1978 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1978/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1978/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-1978 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1978 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1978 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1978/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.