# CVE-2021-3060: PAN-OS: OS Command Injection in Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP)

> Unauthenticated attackers can execute arbitrary code with root privileges via OS command injection in the SCEP feature of PAN-OS firewalls.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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:** 10 Nov 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xhxm-4vx2-mf6c

## What is CVE-2021-3060?

CVE-2021-3060 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 10 Nov 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An OS command injection vulnerability in the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) feature of PAN-OS software allows an unauthenticated network-based attacker with specific knowledge of the firewall configuration to execute arbitrary code with root user privileges. The attacker must have network access to the GlobalProtect interfaces to exploit this issue. This issue impacts: PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.20-h1; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.14-h3; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.11-h2; PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.8; PAN-OS 10.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.1.3. Prisma Access customers with Prisma Access 2.1 Preferred and Prisma Access 2.1 Innovation firewalls are impacted by this issue.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3060?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, Paloaltonetworks Prisma Access.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3060?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-3060 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-3060 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3060 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Clone from gist (github_poc): https://github.com/timb-machine-mirrors/rqu1-cve-2021-3060.py
- CVE-2021-3060 (github_poc): https://github.com/anmolksachan/CVE-2021-3060

## 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-2021-3060 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3060 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 10 Nov 2021. 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-2021-3060 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-2021-3060/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3060/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3060
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3060
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3060

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3060/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.