CVE-2020-1978: palo alto networks vm-series plugin Credentials Management Errors

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2020-1978 is a medium (CVSS 5.8) Credentials Management Errors vulnerability in palo alto networks vm-series plugin. EPSS estimates a 0.31% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 22.2% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 08-04-2020
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 16-09-2024
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

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.

• CWE-255Credentials Management ErrorsWeaknesses in this category are related to the management of credentials.
• CWE-522Insufficiently Protected CredentialsThe product transmits or stores authentication credentials, but it uses an insecure method that is susceptible to unauthorized interception and/or retrieval.