# CVE-2020-2039: PAN-OS: Management web interface denial-of-service (DoS) through unauthenticated file upload

> Unauthenticated attackers can exhaust disk space via repeated file uploads, causing denial of service on the PAN-OS management interface.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x42c-7gjh-r9fx

## What is CVE-2020-2039?

CVE-2020-2039 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 9 Sep 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS allows for a remote unauthenticated user to upload temporary files through the management web interface that are not properly deleted after the request is finished. It is possible for an attacker to disrupt the availability of the management web interface by repeatedly uploading files until available disk space is exhausted. This issue impacts: PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.16; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.10; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.4; PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.1.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-2039?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-2039?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-2039 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-2039 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-2039 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-2020-2039 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-2039 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 9 Sep 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-2020-2039 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-2020-2039/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-2039/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-2039
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-2039
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-2039

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-2039/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.