# CVE-2020-1990: PAN-OS: Buffer overflow in the management server

> An authenticated user can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow in the management server to execute code with root privileges.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cm7j-2j4j-9pf4

## What is CVE-2020-1990?

CVE-2020-1990 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 8 Apr 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the management server component of PAN-OS allows an authenticated user to upload a corrupted PAN-OS configuration and potentially execute code with root privileges. This issue affects Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1 versions before 8.1.13; 9.0 versions before 9.0.7. This issue does not affect PAN-OS 7.1.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1990?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-1990?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1990 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-1990 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1990 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-2020-1990 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-1990 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 8 Apr 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1990 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-2020-1990/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1990/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-1990
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1990
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1990

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1990/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.