PAN-OS: Temporary file race condition vulnerability in PAN-OS leads to local privilege escalation
Published May 13, 2020
7.0
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.57%
Description
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. This allows an attacker who has escaped the restricted shell as a low privilege administrator, possibly by exploiting another vulnerability, to escalate privileges to become root user. This issue affects: 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.
Affected products
-
- Version 7.1StatusaffectedConstraints<7.1.26
- Version 8.0.*StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version 8.1StatusaffectedConstraints<8.1.13
- Version 9.0StatusaffectedConstraints<9.0.6
- Version 9.1.0StatusunaffectedConstraints<9.1*
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks | Pan-OS | n/a |
|
- ≥ 7.1.0 · < 7.1.26
- ≥ 8.0.0 · ≤ 8.0.20
- ≥ 8.1.0 · < 8.1.13
- ≥ 9.0.0 · < 9.0.6
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Vendor solution
This issue is fixed in PAN-OS 7.1.26, PAN-OS 8.1.13, PAN-OS 9.0.6, PAN-OS 9.1.0, and all later PAN-OS versions.
PAN-OS 8.0 is now end-of-life as of October 31, 2019, and is no longer covered by our Product Security Assurance policies.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 2, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Table of values (9 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | 0.57% (0.00568) | 45.07th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.57% (0.00568) | 45.81th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00044) | 12.95th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 25, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00044) | 12.27th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00044) | 10.26th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 27.89th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 1.84% (0.01840) | 47.32th | v1 |
| Jan 5, 2022 | 0.42% (0.00416) | 26.65th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.42% (0.00416) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (1)
- https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-2016 x_refsource_MISCVendor Advisory
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-2016 | x_refsource_MISCVendor Advisory |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.