CVE-2020-2016 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

A race condition vulnerability in PAN-OS allows for local privilege escalation, impacting various versions of the software.

Understanding CVE-2020-2016

What is CVE-2020-2016?

A race condition due to insecure creation of a file in a temporary directory vulnerability in PAN-OS allows for root privilege escalation from a limited Linux user account.

The Impact of CVE-2020-2016

This vulnerability enables an attacker to escalate privileges to become a root user by exploiting another vulnerability.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-2016

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability affects PAN-OS versions earlier than 7.1.26, 8.1.13, 9.0.6, and all versions of PAN-OS 8.0.

Affected Systems and Versions

PAN-OS 7.1 versions earlier than 7.1.26
PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than 8.1.13
PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than 9.0.6
All versions of PAN-OS 8.0

Exploitation Mechanism

Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any exploitation of this issue.

Mitigation and Prevention

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply patches provided by Palo Alto Networks for PAN-OS versions 7.1.26, 8.1.13, 9.0.6, and 9.1.0.
Follow best practices for securing the PAN-OS management interface.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update PAN-OS to the latest versions.
Conduct security assessments and follow security guidelines provided by Palo Alto Networks.

Patching and Updates

PAN-OS 8.0 is end-of-life and no longer covered by Product Security Assurance policies.