{
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            "url": "https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-2021"
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        ],
        "title": "CVE Program Container"
      },
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
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              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2020-2021",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "active"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "yes"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "total"
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                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2025-02-07T12:42:40.893905Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          },
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "dateAdded": "2022-03-25",
                "reference": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-2021"
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              "type": "kev"
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        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2025-10-21T23:35:41.842Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
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            "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-2021"
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        ],
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            "time": "2022-03-25T00:00:00+00:00",
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        ],
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
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    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "product": "PAN-OS",
          "vendor": "Palo Alto Networks",
          "versions": [
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.1.*"
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            {
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              "version": "8.0.*"
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                  "status": "unaffected"
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              "status": "affected",
              "version": "9.0",
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                  "status": "unaffected"
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              ],
              "lessThan": "9.1.3",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "9.1",
              "versionType": "custom"
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        }
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      "configurations": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "This issue is applicable only where SAML authentication is enabled and the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is disabled (unchecked) in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile.\nThis issue cannot be exploited if SAML is not used for authentication.\nThis issue cannot be exploited if the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is enabled in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile.\nDetailed descriptions of how to check for the configuration required for exposure and mitigate them are listed in the knowledge base article https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXK.\nTo check whether SAML authentication is enabled on a firewall, see the configuration under Device \u003e Server Profiles \u003e SAML Identity Provider.\nTo check whether SAML authentication is enabled for Panorama administrator authentication, see the configuration under Panorama\u003e Server Profiles \u003e SAML Identity Provider\nTo check whether SAML authentication is enabled for firewalls managed by Panorama, see the configuration under Device \u003e [template]\u003e Server Profiles \u003e SAML Identity Provider.\nAny unauthorized access is logged in the system logs based on the configuration; however, it can be difficult to distinguish between valid and malicious logins or sessions."
        }
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      "credits": [
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          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Palo Alto Networks thanks Salman Khan from the Cyber Risk and Resilience Team and Cameron Duck from the Identity Services Team at Monash University for discovering and reporting this issue."
        }
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      "datePublic": "2020-06-29T00:00:00.000Z",
      "descriptions": [
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          "value": "When Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication is enabled and the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is disabled (unchecked), improper verification of signatures in PAN-OS SAML authentication enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to access protected resources. The attacker must have network access to the vulnerable server to exploit this vulnerability. This issue affects PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.3; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.9; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.15, and all versions of PAN-OS 8.0 (EOL). This issue does not affect PAN-OS 7.1. This issue cannot be exploited if SAML is not used for authentication. This issue cannot be exploited if the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is enabled (checked) in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile. Resources that can be protected by SAML-based single sign-on (SSO) authentication are: GlobalProtect Gateway, GlobalProtect Portal, GlobalProtect Clientless VPN, Authentication and Captive Portal, PAN-OS next-generation firewalls (PA-Series, VM-Series) and Panorama web interfaces, Prisma Access In the case of GlobalProtect Gateways, GlobalProtect Portal, Clientless VPN, Captive Portal, and Prisma Access, an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the affected servers can gain access to protected resources if allowed by configured authentication and Security policies. There is no impact on the integrity and availability of the gateway, portal or VPN server. An attacker cannot inspect or tamper with sessions of regular users. In the worst case, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N). In the case of PAN-OS and Panorama web interfaces, this issue allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the PAN-OS or Panorama web interfaces to log in as an administrator and perform administrative actions. In the worst-case scenario, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). If the web interfaces are only accessible to a restricted management network, then the issue is lowered to a CVSS Base Score of 9.6 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious attempts to exploit this vulnerability."
        }
      ],
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            "scope": "CHANGED",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
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        "dateUpdated": "2020-06-29T15:10:11.000Z",
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        "shortName": "palo_alto"
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          "url": "https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-2021"
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      "solutions": [
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          "value": "This issue is fixed in PAN-OS 8.1.15, PAN-OS 9.0.9, PAN-OS 9.1.3, and all later versions.\n\nImportant: Ensure that the signing certificate for your SAML Identity Provider is configured as the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 before you upgrade to a fixed version to ensure that your users can continue to authenticate successfully. Configuring the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 is an essential part of a secure SAML authentication configuration. https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/9-1/pan-os-admin/authentication/configure-saml-authentication\n\nDetails of all actions required before and after upgrading PAN-OS are available in https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXK. \n\nTo eliminate unauthorized sessions on GlobalProtect portals and gateways, Prisma Access managed through Panorama, change the certificate used to encrypt and decrypt the Authentication Override cookie on the GlobalProtect portal and gateways using the Panorama or firewall web interface. Refer to this article for configuring Authentication override cookies: https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXy\n\nRestarting firewalls and Panorama eliminates any unauthorized sessions on the web interface.\nTo clear any unauthorized user sessions in Captive Portal take the following steps: \nRun the following command \n    show user ip-user-mapping all type SSO\nFor all the IPs returned, run these two commands to clear the users:\n    clear user-cache-mp \u003cabove ips\u003e\n    clear user-cache \u003cabove ips\u003e\nPAN-OS 8.0 is end-of-life (as of October 31, 2019) and is no longer covered by our Product Security Assurance policies.\nAll Prisma Access services have been upgraded to resolve this issue and are no longer vulnerable. Prisma Access customers do not require any changes to SAML or IdP configurations."
        }
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      "source": {
        "defect": [
          "PAN-148988"
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        "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
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      "timeline": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2020-06-29T00:00:00",
          "value": "Initial publication"
        }
      ],
      "title": "PAN-OS: Authentication Bypass in SAML Authentication",
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          "value": "Using a different authentication method and disabling SAML authentication will completely mitigate the issue.\nUntil an upgrade can be performed, applying both these mitigations (a) and (b) eliminates the configuration required for exposure to this vulnerability:\n\n(a) Ensure that the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 is configured. Configuring the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 is an essential part of a secure SAML authentication configuration.\n\n(b) If the identity provider (IdP) certificate is a certificate authority (CA) signed certificate, then ensure that the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is enabled in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile. Many popular IdPs  generate self-signed IdP certificates by default and the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option cannot be enabled. Additional steps may be required to use a certificate signed by a CA. This certificate can be signed by an internal enterprise CA, the CA on the PAN-OS, or a public CA. Instructions to configure a CA-issued certificate on IdPs are available at https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXP.\n\nUpgrading to a fixed version of PAN-OS software prevents any future configuration changes related to SAML that inadvertently expose protected services to attacks."
        }
      ],
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            "value": "This issue is applicable only where SAML authentication is enabled and the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is disabled (unchecked) in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile.\nThis issue cannot be exploited if SAML is not used for authentication.\nThis issue cannot be exploited if the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is enabled in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile.\nDetailed descriptions of how to check for the configuration required for exposure and mitigate them are listed in the knowledge base article https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXK.\nTo check whether SAML authentication is enabled on a firewall, see the configuration under Device \u003e Server Profiles \u003e SAML Identity Provider.\nTo check whether SAML authentication is enabled for Panorama administrator authentication, see the configuration under Panorama\u003e Server Profiles \u003e SAML Identity Provider\nTo check whether SAML authentication is enabled for firewalls managed by Panorama, see the configuration under Device \u003e [template]\u003e Server Profiles \u003e SAML Identity Provider.\nAny unauthorized access is logged in the system logs based on the configuration; however, it can be difficult to distinguish between valid and malicious logins or sessions."
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            "value": "Palo Alto Networks thanks Salman Khan from the Cyber Risk and Resilience Team and Cameron Duck from the Identity Services Team at Monash University for discovering and reporting this issue."
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              "value": "When Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication is enabled and the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is disabled (unchecked), improper verification of signatures in PAN-OS SAML authentication enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to access protected resources. The attacker must have network access to the vulnerable server to exploit this vulnerability. This issue affects PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.3; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.9; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.15, and all versions of PAN-OS 8.0 (EOL). This issue does not affect PAN-OS 7.1. This issue cannot be exploited if SAML is not used for authentication. This issue cannot be exploited if the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is enabled (checked) in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile. Resources that can be protected by SAML-based single sign-on (SSO) authentication are: GlobalProtect Gateway, GlobalProtect Portal, GlobalProtect Clientless VPN, Authentication and Captive Portal, PAN-OS next-generation firewalls (PA-Series, VM-Series) and Panorama web interfaces, Prisma Access In the case of GlobalProtect Gateways, GlobalProtect Portal, Clientless VPN, Captive Portal, and Prisma Access, an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the affected servers can gain access to protected resources if allowed by configured authentication and Security policies. There is no impact on the integrity and availability of the gateway, portal or VPN server. An attacker cannot inspect or tamper with sessions of regular users. In the worst case, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N). In the case of PAN-OS and Panorama web interfaces, this issue allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the PAN-OS or Panorama web interfaces to log in as an administrator and perform administrative actions. In the worst-case scenario, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). If the web interfaces are only accessible to a restricted management network, then the issue is lowered to a CVSS Base Score of 9.6 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious attempts to exploit this vulnerability."
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            "value": "This issue is fixed in PAN-OS 8.1.15, PAN-OS 9.0.9, PAN-OS 9.1.3, and all later versions.\n\nImportant: Ensure that the signing certificate for your SAML Identity Provider is configured as the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 before you upgrade to a fixed version to ensure that your users can continue to authenticate successfully. Configuring the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 is an essential part of a secure SAML authentication configuration. https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/9-1/pan-os-admin/authentication/configure-saml-authentication\n\nDetails of all actions required before and after upgrading PAN-OS are available in https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXK. \n\nTo eliminate unauthorized sessions on GlobalProtect portals and gateways, Prisma Access managed through Panorama, change the certificate used to encrypt and decrypt the Authentication Override cookie on the GlobalProtect portal and gateways using the Panorama or firewall web interface. Refer to this article for configuring Authentication override cookies: https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXy\n\nRestarting firewalls and Panorama eliminates any unauthorized sessions on the web interface.\nTo clear any unauthorized user sessions in Captive Portal take the following steps: \nRun the following command \n    show user ip-user-mapping all type SSO\nFor all the IPs returned, run these two commands to clear the users:\n    clear user-cache-mp \u003cabove ips\u003e\n    clear user-cache \u003cabove ips\u003e\nPAN-OS 8.0 is end-of-life (as of October 31, 2019) and is no longer covered by our Product Security Assurance policies.\nAll Prisma Access services have been upgraded to resolve this issue and are no longer vulnerable. Prisma Access customers do not require any changes to SAML or IdP configurations."
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        "source": {
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            "time": "2020-06-29T00:00:00",
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            "value": "Using a different authentication method and disabling SAML authentication will completely mitigate the issue.\nUntil an upgrade can be performed, applying both these mitigations (a) and (b) eliminates the configuration required for exposure to this vulnerability:\n\n(a) Ensure that the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 is configured. Configuring the \u0027Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 is an essential part of a secure SAML authentication configuration.\n\n(b) If the identity provider (IdP) certificate is a certificate authority (CA) signed certificate, then ensure that the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option is enabled in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile. Many popular IdPs  generate self-signed IdP certificates by default and the \u0027Validate Identity Provider Certificate\u0027 option cannot be enabled. Additional steps may be required to use a certificate signed by a CA. This certificate can be signed by an internal enterprise CA, the CA on the PAN-OS, or a public CA. Instructions to configure a CA-issued certificate on IdPs are available at https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000008UXP.\n\nUpgrading to a fixed version of PAN-OS software prevents any future configuration changes related to SAML that inadvertently expose protected services to attacks."
          }
        ]
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    "cveId": "CVE-2020-2021",
    "datePublished": "2020-06-29T15:10:11.350Z",
    "dateReserved": "2019-12-04T00:00:00.000Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2025-10-21T23:35:41.842Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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}