# CVE-2021-3061: PAN-OS: OS Command Injection Vulnerability in the Command Line Interface (CLI)

> Authenticated administrators can execute arbitrary OS commands via the CLI to escalate privileges on PAN-OS firewalls.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Nov 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xj9p-2g8h-8rmg

## What is CVE-2021-3061?

CVE-2021-3061 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 10 Nov 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An OS command injection vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS command line interface (CLI) enables an authenticated administrator with access to the CLI to execute arbitrary OS commands to escalate privileges. 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 that have Prisma Access 2.1 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-2021-3061?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, Paloaltonetworks Prisma Access.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3061?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-3061 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-3061 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3061 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-2021-3061 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3061 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os, published on 10 Nov 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3061 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-2021-3061/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3061/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3061
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3061
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3061

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3061/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.