Critical PAN-OS Firewall Vulnerability Exploited; Patch Available
Palo Alto Networks Addresses Critical Zero-Day Vulnerability in PAN-OS Firewall
Palo Alto Networks has recently issued new indicators of compromise (IoCs) following the confirmation of a zero-day vulnerability in its PAN-OS firewall management interface. This flaw has been actively exploited in the wild, raising significant concerns among cybersecurity professionals. The primary keyword, "zero-day vulnerability," reflects the urgency of the situation, as malicious activities targeting vulnerable PAN-OS management web interface IP addresses have been identified.
Identifying the Threat: IP Addresses of Concern
The company has reported malicious activity linked to the following IP addresses:
- 136.144.17.*
- 173.239.218.251
- 216.73.162.*
Palo Alto Networks warns that these IP addresses may represent "third-party VPNs" with legitimate user activity. Nonetheless, the updated advisory highlights the critical nature of this vulnerability, which is being exploited to deploy web shells on compromised devices, enabling threat actors to gain persistent remote access.
Details of the Vulnerability
This zero-day vulnerability, which has yet to receive a Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifier, carries a CVSS score of 9.3, indicating critical severity. Notably, it allows for unauthenticated remote command execution without requiring user interaction or elevated privileges, making it particularly dangerous.
- Attack Complexity: Low, if unrestricted access to the management interface is available.
- High Severity: If access is limited to a small pool of IP addresses, the CVSS score drops to 7.5, necessitating privileged access to exploit.
On November 8, 2024, Palo Alto Networks advised customers to secure their firewall management interfaces amidst reports of this vulnerability. While exploitation has been confirmed against a limited number of instances, details regarding the nature of the attacks and the threat actors involved remain unclear. Fortunately, Prisma Access and Cloud NGFW products are not affected by this flaw.
Immediate Action Required: Patching and Security Measures
While Palo Alto Networks has yet to release patches for the zero-day vulnerability, it is crucial for users to secure access to their management interfaces immediately. The advisory comes in light of three other critical vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-5910, CVE-2024-9463, and CVE-2024-9465) that have also been exploited, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Recent Patches for Other Vulnerabilities
Palo Alto Networks has released patches for two active vulnerabilities, which are as follows:
- CVE-2024-9474 (CVSS score: 6.9): A privilege escalation vulnerability allowing a PAN-OS administrator to perform root-level actions via the management web interface.
- CVE-2024-0012 (CVSS score: 9.3): An authentication bypass that permits unauthenticated attackers to gain PAN-OS administrator privileges.
These patches have been made available for PAN-OS versions 10.1.14-h6, 10.2.12-h2, 11.0.6-h1, 11.1.5-h1, and 11.2.4-h1, as well as all later PAN-OS versions.
Further Investigations and Technical Insights
Palo Alto Networks has reported ongoing investigations into threat activity linked to IP addresses known for proxying or tunneling traffic for VPN services, an operation dubbed "Operation Lunar Peek." Observations include interactive command execution and malware deployment, such as PHP web shells.
CISA has added both vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, mandating that Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies remediate them by December 9, 2024.
Conclusion: Stay Informed and Secure
As cybersecurity threats evolve, staying informed and proactive is essential. Researchers have begun releasing technical details on how the vulnerabilities CVE-2024-0012 and CVE-2024-9474 can be exploited together, and a proof-of-concept exploit is anticipated soon.
For those managing Palo Alto Networks products, it’s critical to monitor these developments closely and apply necessary patches promptly.
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