# CVE-2020-2018: PAN-OS: Panorama authentication bypass vulnerability

> Attackers with network access to Panorama's management interface can bypass authentication to gain privileged access to managed firewalls.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 13 May 2020
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7qj6-jfj8-2jr9

## What is CVE-2020-2018?

CVE-2020-2018 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 13 May 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Panorama context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to a Panorama's management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls. An attacker requires some knowledge of managed firewalls to exploit this issue. This issue does not affect Panorama configured with custom certificates authentication for communication between Panorama and managed devices. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; All versions of PAN-OS 8.0.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-2018?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-2018?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-2018 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-2018 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-2018 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-2020-2018 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-2018 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 13 May 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-2018 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-2020-2018/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-2018/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-2018
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-2018
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-2018

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-2018/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.