Vulnerabilities > CVE-2020-1979 - Use of Externally-Controlled Format String vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os

047910
CVSS 7.8 - HIGH
Attack vector
LOCAL
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
LOW
Confidentiality impact
HIGH
Integrity impact
HIGH
Availability impact
HIGH
local
low complexity
paloaltonetworks
CWE-134
nessus
NVD
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2024-11-21

Summary

A format string vulnerability in the PAN-OS log daemon (logd) on Panorama allows a network based attacker with knowledge of registered firewall devices and access to Panorama management interfaces to execute arbitrary code, bypassing the restricted shell and escalating privileges. This issue affects only PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.13 on Panorama. This issue does not affect PAN-OS 7.1, PAN-OS 9.0, or later PAN-OS versions.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
OS
Paloaltonetworks
216

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Format String Injection
    An attacker includes formatting characters in a string input field on the target application. Most applications assume that users will provide static text and may respond unpredictably to the presence of formatting character. For example, in certain functions of the C programming languages such as printf, the formatting character %s will print the contents of a memory location expecting this location to identify a string and the formatting character %n prints the number of DWORD written in the memory. An attacker can use this to read or write to memory locations or files, or simply to manipulate the value of the resulting text in unexpected ways. Reading or writing memory may result in program crashes and writing memory could result in the execution of arbitrary code if the attacker can write to the program stack.
  • String Format Overflow in syslog()
    This attack targets the format string vulnerabilities in the syslog() function. An attacker would typically inject malicious input in the format string parameter of the syslog function. This is a common problem, and many public vulnerabilities and associated exploits have been posted.

Nessus

NASL familyPalo Alto Local Security Checks
NASL idPALO_ALTO_CVE-2020-1979.NASL
descriptionThe version of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS running on the remote host is 8.1.x prior to 8.1.13. It is, therefore, affected by a format string vulnerability in the PAN-OS log daemon (logd) on Panorama due to improper handling of user-supplied input. An authenticated, local attacker can exploit this, by supplying crafted input, in order to execute arbitrary code, bypass the restricted shell, and escalate privileges. Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application
last seen2020-05-23
modified2020-03-19
plugin id134709
published2020-03-19
reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/134709
titlePalo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.x < 8.1.13 Privilege Escalation (PAN-97584)
code
#
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#

include('compat.inc');

if (description)
{
  script_id(134709);
  script_version("1.2");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/05/22");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2020-1979");
  script_xref(name:"IAVA", value:"2020-A-0105-S");

  script_name(english:"Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 8.1.x < 8.1.13 Privilege Escalation (PAN-97584)");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The remote PAN-OS host is affected by vulnerability");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The version of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS running on the remote host is 8.1.x prior to 8.1.13. It is, therefore, affected
by a format string vulnerability in the PAN-OS log daemon (logd) on Panorama due to improper handling of user-supplied
input. An authenticated, local attacker can exploit this, by supplying crafted input, in order to execute arbitrary
code, bypass the restricted shell, and escalate privileges.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version
number.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-1979");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"Upgrade to PAN-OS 8.1.13 or later");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2020-1979");
  script_cwe_id(134);

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2020/03/11");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2020/03/11");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2020/03/19");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"combined");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:paloaltonetworks:pan-os");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"stig_severity", value:"I");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"Palo Alto Local Security Checks");

  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("palo_alto_version.nbin");
  script_require_keys("Host/Palo_Alto/Firewall/Version", "Host/Palo_Alto/Firewall/Full_Version", "Host/Palo_Alto/Firewall/Source");

  exit(0);
}

include('vcf.inc');
include('vcf_extras.inc');

vcf::palo_alto::initialize();

app_name = 'Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS';

app_info = vcf::get_app_info(app:app_name, kb_ver:'Host/Palo_Alto/Firewall/Full_Version', kb_source:'Host/Palo_Alto/Firewall/Source');

constraints = [
  { 'min_version' : '8.1.0', 'fixed_version' : '8.1.13' }
];

vcf::check_version_and_report(app_info:app_info, constraints:constraints, severity:SECURITY_WARNING);

References