CVE-2019-17437: PAN-OS: Custom-role users may escalate privileges

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2019-12-05 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-280

Description

An improper authentication check in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS may allow an authenticated low privileged non-superuser custom role user to elevate privileges and become superuser. This issue affects PAN-OS 7.1 versions prior to 7.1.25; 8.0 versions prior to 8.0.20; 8.1 versions prior to 8.1.11; 9.0 versions prior to 9.0.5. PAN-OS version 7.0 and prior EOL versions have not been evaluated for this issue.

Affected products

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 7.1.0 before 7.1.25; from 8.0.0 before 8.0.20; from 8.1.0 before 8.1.11; from 9.0.0 before 9.0.5 — fixed in 7.1.25, 8.0.20, 8.1.11, 9.0.5
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 7.1 before 7.1.25; from 8.0 before 8.0.20; from 8.1 before 8.1.11; from 9.0 before 9.0.5 — fixed in 7.1.25, 8.0.20, 8.1.11, 9.0.5

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 7.1.25, 8.0.20, 8.1.11, 9.0.5; Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 7.1.25, 8.0.20, 8.1.11, 9.0.5. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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