CVE-2021-3064: PAN-OS: Memory Corruption Vulnerability in GlobalProtect Portal and Gateway Interfaces

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 20.1% 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-121

Description

A memory corruption vulnerability exists in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect portal and gateway interfaces that enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to disrupt system processes and potentially execute arbitrary code with root privileges. The attacker must have network access to the GlobalProtect interface to exploit this issue. This issue impacts PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.17. Prisma Access customers are not impacted by this issue.

Affected products

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 8.1.0 before 8.1.17 — fixed in 8.1.17
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 8.1 before 8.1.17 — fixed in 8.1.17

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.17; Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.17. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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