Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Malicious DNS Packet Vulnerability
What it is
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS contains a vulnerability in parsing and logging malicious DNS packets in the DNS Security feature that, when exploited, allows an unauthenticated attacker to remotely reboot the firewall. Repeated attempts to trigger this condition will cause the firewall to enter maintenance mode.
Who's affected
Affects anyone behind a Palo Alto firewall or using GlobalProtect VPN. The firewall is the network edge; the VPN is how remote workers reach inside the perimeter — exploitation puts an attacker on the internal network without touching a workstation.
What to do
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA action deadline: January 20, 2025. Federal agencies must complete the required action by this date. For private SMBs the deadline is advisory — but treat it as a strong recommendation, especially if you handle regulated data (HIPAA, GLBA, ABA model rules).
If you don't have someone in-house to verify the patch deployed across every endpoint — or you're not sure whether you're affected — that's exactly the kind of triage we do. Book a free 20-minute triage call.
Severity
CVSS base score: 7.5 — HIGH
Weakness classification: CWE-754
Source
Pulled daily from the public cisagov/kev-data mirror (CC0). View the original entry on cisa.gov. CISA KEV is US-Government public-domain data; we add the SMB-vertical framing and the coping action above.