CVE-2021-3061: PAN-OS: OS Command Injection Vulnerability in the Command Line Interface (CLI)

Severity: high (CVSS 7.2 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.9% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2021-11-10 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-78

Description

An OS command injection vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS command line interface (CLI) enables an authenticated administrator with access to the CLI to execute arbitrary OS commands to escalate privileges. This issue impacts: PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.20-h1; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.14-h3; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.11-h2; PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.8; PAN-OS 10.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.1.3. Prisma Access customers that have Prisma Access 2.1 firewalls are impacted by this issue.

Affected products

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 8.1.0 through 8.1.20; from 9.0.0 through 9.0.14; from 9.1.0 through 9.1.11; from 10.0.0 before 10.0.8; from 10.1.0 before 10.1.3 — fixed in 10.0.8, 10.1.3
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access: 2.1 (and their updates)
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 8.1 before 8.1.20-h1; from 9.0 before 9.0.14-h3; from 10.0 before 10.0.8; from 10.1 before 10.1.3; from 9.1 before 9.1.11-h2 — fixed in 8.1.20-h1, 9.0.14-h3, 10.0.8, 10.1.3, 9.1.11-h2
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access: 2.1 Preferred, 2.1 Innovation

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 10.0.8, 10.1.3; Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.20-h1, 9.0.14-h3, 10.0.8, 10.1.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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