Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS File Read Vulnerability

What it is

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS contains an external control of file name or path vulnerability. Successful exploitation enables an authenticated attacker with network access to the management web interface to read files on the PAN-OS filesystem that are readable by the “nobody” user.

VulnCheck tracked exploitation 2 days before CISA's KEV listing. VulnCheck's broader catalog of in-the-wild exploitation evidence picked this up before it landed on CISA's formal list. Per-CVE fact about this entry; not a population claim about lead time in general.

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.

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.

CISA due date

Federal deadline: March 13, 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).

EPSS

EPSS score: 1.9% — higher than 78% of all scored CVEs.

EPSS estimates the probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days. Every entry on this site is already confirmed exploited, so read it as relative urgency among the things you still have open, not as permission to wait.

Score dated 2026-08-12, from the FIRST.org Exploit Prediction Scoring System.

Other exploited Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS entries

More CISA KEV entries for Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS. Same product line, same actively-exploited status.

• CVE-2026-0257: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
• CVE-2026-0300: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Out-of-bounds Write Vulnerability
• CVE-2025-0108: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
• CVE-2024-3393: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Malicious DNS Packet Vulnerability
• CVE-2024-0012: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Management Interface Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
• CVE-2024-9474: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Management Interface OS Command Injection Vulnerability
• CVE-2024-3400: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Command Injection Vulnerability
• CVE-2022-0028: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Reflected Amplification Denial-of-Service Vulnerability

Browse more

• All Palo Alto Networks KEV entries
• Firewalls & edge
• All SMB-relevant KEV entries

Source

This entry comes from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, public US-Government data we pull daily. The plain-language framing and the what-to-do guidance above are ours. View the original entry on cisa.gov.