CVE-2020-2016

PAN-OS: Temporary file race condition vulnerability in PAN-OS leads to local privilege escalation

HIGH
7
CVSS Score
Published: May 13, 2020 at 07:07 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:11 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorPAN-OS

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Severity
HIGH7
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.6%

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

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

7.1 ≤ v < 7.1.267.1.0 ≤ v < 7.1.268.0.0 ≤ v ≤ 8.0.208.1 ≤ v < 8.1.138.1.0 ≤ v < 8.1.139.0 ≤ v < 9.0.69.0.0 ≤ v < 9.0.67.18.0.*8.19.0
Affected range stops below 7.1.26, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 8.1.13, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 9.0.6, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 9.1.0 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (1)

CVSS

7HIGHpalo_alto
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-377CWE-362

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