CVE-2020-2001: PAN-OS: Panorama External control of file vulnerability leads to privilege escalation

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2020-05-13 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-123

Description

An external control of path and data vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Panorama XSLT processing logic that allows an unauthenticated user with network access to PAN-OS management interface to write attacker supplied file on the system and elevate privileges. This issue affects: All PAN-OS 7.1 Panorama and 8.0 Panorama versions; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.12 on Panorama; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6 on Panorama.

Affected products

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 7.1.0 through 7.1.26; from 8.0.0 through 8.0.20; from 8.1.0 before 8.1.12; from 9.0.0 before 9.0.6 — fixed in 8.1.12, 9.0.6
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 8.1 before 8.1.12; from 9.0 before 9.0.6; 8.0.*, 7.1.* — fixed in 8.1.12, 9.0.6

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.12, 9.0.6; Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.12, 9.0.6. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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