CVE-2022-0011: PAN-OS: URL Category Exceptions Match More URLs Than Intended in URL Filtering

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2022-02-10 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-436

Description

PAN-OS software provides options to exclude specific websites from URL category enforcement and those websites are blocked or allowed (depending on your rules) regardless of their associated URL category. This is done by creating a custom URL category list or by using an external dynamic list (EDL) in a URL Filtering profile. When the entries in these lists have a hostname pattern that does not end with a forward slash (/) or a hostname pattern that ends with an asterisk (*), any URL that starts with the specified pattern is considered a match. Entries with a caret (^) at the end of a hostname pattern match any top level domain. This may inadvertently allow or block more URLs than intended and allowing more URLs than intended represents a security risk. For example: example.com will match example.com.website.test example.com.* will match example.com.website.test example.com.^ will match example.com.test You should take special care when using such entries in policy rules that allow traffic. Where possible, use the exact list of hostname names ending with a forward slash (/) instead of using wildcards. PAN-OS 10.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.1.3; PAN-OS 10.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 10.0.8; PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.12; all PAN-OS 9.0 versions; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.21, and Prisma Access 2.2 and 2.1 versions do not allow customers to change this behavior without changing the URL category list or EDL.

Affected products

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 8.1.0 before 8.1.21; from 9.0.0 through 9.0.15; from 9.1.0 before 9.1.12; from 10.0.0 before 10.0.8; from 10.1.0 before 10.1.3 — fixed in 8.1.21, 9.1.12, 10.0.8, 10.1.3
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access: 2.1, 2.2 (and their updates)
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: from 8.1 before 8.1.21; from 9.1 before 9.1.12; from 10.0 before 10.0.8; from 10.1 before 10.1.3; 9.0.* — fixed in 8.1.21, 9.1.12, 10.0.8, 10.1.3
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access: 2.2 Preferred, 2.1 Preferred, Innovation

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.21, 9.1.12, 10.0.8, 10.1.3; Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.21, 9.1.12, 10.0.8, 10.1.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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