CVE-2021-3054 PAN-OS: Unsigned Code Execution During Plugin Installation Race Condition Vulnerability
Description
A time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS web interface enables an authenticated administrator with permission to upload plugins to execute arbitrary code with root user privileges.
This issue impacts:
PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.20;
PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.14;
PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.11;
PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.7;
PAN-OS 10.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.1.2.
This issue does not affect Prisma Access.
Product Status
| Versions | Affected | Unaffected |
|---|---|---|
| PAN-OS 10.1 | < 10.1.2 | >= 10.1.2 |
| PAN-OS 10.0 | < 10.0.7 | >= 10.0.7 |
| PAN-OS 9.1 | < 9.1.11 | >= 9.1.11 |
| PAN-OS 9.0 | < 9.0.14 | >= 9.0.14 |
| PAN-OS 8.1 | < 8.1.20 | >= 8.1.20 |
Severity: HIGH
CVSSv3.1 Base Score: 7.2 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Exploitation Status
Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious exploitation of this issue.
Weakness Type
CWE-367 Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
Solution
This issue is fixed in PAN-OS 8.1.20, PAN-OS 9.0.14, PAN-OS 9.1.11, PAN-OS 10.0.7, PAN-OS 10.1.2, and all later PAN-OS versions.
Workarounds and Mitigations
Enable signatures for Unique Threat ID 91572 on traffic processed by the firewall to block attacks against CVE-2021-3054.
This issue requires the attacker to have authenticated access to the PAN-OS web interface. You can mitigate the impact of this issue by following best practices for securing the PAN-OS web interface. Please review the Best Practices for Securing Administrative Access in the PAN-OS technical documentation at https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/best-practices.