CVE-2020-2018
PAN-OS: Panorama authentication bypass vulnerability
An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Panorama context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to a Panorama's management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls. An attacker requires some knowledge of managed firewalls to exploit this issue. This issue does not affect Panorama configured with custom certificates authentication for communication between Panorama and managed devices. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; All versions of PAN-OS 8.0.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
PAN-OS: Panorama authentication bypass vulnerability
An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Panorama context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to a Panorama's management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls. An attacker requires some knowledge of managed firewalls to exploit this issue. This issue does not affect Panorama configured with custom certificates authentication for communication between Panorama and managed devices. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; All versions of PAN-OS 8.0.
- Record
CVE-2020-2018- CVSS 3.1
- 9.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-22046
An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Panorama context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to a Panorama's management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls. An attacker requires some knowledge of managed firewalls to exploit this issue. This issue does not affect Panorama configured with custom certificates authentication for communication between Panorama and managed devices. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; All versions of PAN-OS 8.0.
- Record
EUVD-2020-22046- CVSS 3.1
- 9.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7qj6-jfj8-2jr9 No score
An authentication bypass vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Panorama proxy service allows...
An authentication bypass vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Panorama proxy service allows an unauthenticated user with network access to Panorama and the knowledge of the Firewall’s serial number to register the PAN-OS firewall to register the device. After the PAN-OS device is registered, the user can further compromise the PAN-OS instances managed by Panorama. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.0 versions earlier than 8.0.21; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6.
- Record
GHSA-7qj6-jfj8-2jr9- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Panorama context switching feature allows an attacker with network access to a Panorama's management interface to gain privileged access to managed firewalls. An attacker requires some knowledge of managed firewalls to exploit this issue. This issue does not affect Panorama configured with custom certificates authentication for communication between Panorama and managed devices. This issue affects: PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6; All versions of PAN-OS 8.0.
- Record
CVE-2020-2018- CVSS 3.1
- 9.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 9.3 High
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| facts | ||
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-2018 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.0) in Palo Alto Networks Pan-os, published May 13, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.36%, the 71st percentile. No source names a fixed version.