CVE-2020-2004 GlobalProtect App: Passwords may be logged in clear text while collecting troubleshooting logs
Attackers with local access can read cleartext passwords from diagnostic logs if specific logging and credential-saving settings are enabled.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-2004?
CVE-2020-2004 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect App, published on 13 May 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
Under certain circumstances a user's password may be logged in cleartext in the PanGPS.log diagnostic file when logs are collected for troubleshooting on GlobalProtect app (also known as GlobalProtect Agent) for MacOS and Windows. For this issue to occur all of these conditions must be true: (1) 'Save User Credential' option should be set to 'Yes' in the GlobalProtect Portal's Agent configuration, (2) the GlobalProtect user manually selects a gateway, (3) and the logging level is set to 'Dump' while collecting troubleshooting logs. This issue does not affect GlobalProtect app on other platforms (for example iOS/Android/Linux). This issue affects GlobalProtect app 5.0 versions earlier than 5.0.9, GlobalProtect app 5.1 versions earlier than 5.1.2 on Windows or MacOS. Since becoming aware of the issue, Palo Alto Networks has safely deleted all the known GlobalProtectLogs zip files sent by customers with the credentials. We now filter and remove these credentials from all files sent to Customer Support. The GlobalProtectLogs zip 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-2020-2004?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Paloaltonetworks Globalprotect.
How do I fix CVE-2020-2004?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-2004 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-2004 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-2004 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect App
- CVE-2025-4232 GlobalProtect: Authenticated Code Injection Through Wildcard on macOS
- CVE-2021-3057 GlobalProtect App: Buffer Overflow Vulnerability When Connecting to Portal or Gateway
- CVE-2023-0009 GlobalProtect App: Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability
- CVE-2022-0016 GlobalProtect App: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability When Using Connect Before Logon
- CVE-2025-0120 GlobalProtect App: Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as GHSA-p45r-9639-7568.