CVE-2019-17440: PAN-OS on PA-7000 Series: Improper restriction of communication to Log Forwarding Card (LFC) allows root access

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2019-12-20 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-923

Description

Improper restriction of communications to Log Forwarding Card (LFC) on PA-7000 Series devices with second-generation Switch Management Card (SMC) may allow an attacker with network access to the LFC to gain root access to PAN-OS. This issue affects PAN-OS 9.0 versions prior to 9.0.5-h3 on PA-7080 and PA-7050 devices with an LFC installed and configured. This issue does not affect PA-7000 Series deployments using the first-generation SMC and the Log Processing Card (LPC). This issue does not affect any other PA series devices. This issue does not affect devices without an LFC. This issue does not affect PAN-OS 8.1 or prior releases. This issue only affected a very limited number of customers and we undertook individual outreach to help them upgrade. At the time of publication, all identified customers have upgraded SW or content and are not impacted.

Affected products

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 9.0 through 9.0.5
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 9.0 before 9.0.5-h3 — fixed in 9.0.5-h3, 9.0.6, 9.0.5-h3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 9.0.5-h3, 9.0.6, 9.0.5-h3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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