CVE-2020-1978
MEDIUMDescription
TechSupport files generated on Palo Alto Networks VM Series firewalls for Microsoft Azure platform configured with high availability (HA) inadvertently collect Azure dashboard service account credentials. These credentials are equivalent to the credentials associated with the Contributor role in Azure. A user with the credentials will be able to manage all the Azure resources in the subscription except for granting access to other resources. These credentials do not allow login access to the VMs themselves. This issue affects VM Series Plugin versions before 1.0.9 for PAN-OS 9.0. This issue does not affect VM Series in non-HA configurations or on other cloud platforms. It does not affect hardware firewall appliances. Since becoming aware of the issue, Palo Alto Networks has safely deleted all the tech support files with the credentials. We now filter and remove these credentials from all TechSupport files sent to us. The TechSupport files uploaded to Palo Alto Networks systems were only accessible by authorized personnel with valid Palo Alto Networks credentials. We do not have any evidence of malicious access or use of these credentials.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 23% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-255 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2010-0219 | High | 10.0 | 90% | - | - |
| CVE-2014-9195 | High | 10.0 | 81% | - | - |
| CVE-2009-3548 | High | 7.5 | 79% | - | - |
| CVE-2013-4786 | High | 7.5 | 79% | - | - |
| CVE-2009-4189 | High | 10.0 | 79% | - | - |
| CVE-2017-8229 | Critical | 9.8 | 74% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2020-1978?
Upgrade vm-series to 1.0.9 or later.
Is CVE-2020-1978 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2020-1978 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.31% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 23% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2020-1978?
CVE-2020-1978 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.8, rated medium. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2020-1978 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for vm-series (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2020-1978
Markdown
[](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2020-1978)HTML
<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2020-1978"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2020-1978.svg" alt="CVE-2020-1978"></a>Find and fix vulnerabilities across your fleet
TridentStack Control continuously scans your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet for known vulnerabilities, prioritizes them by severity and active exploitation, and patches them automatically.
This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.