CriticalCVE-2026-0257

    PAN-OS: GlobalProtect Authentication Bypass Vulnerabilities (CVE-2026-0257)

    Published Last modified In CISA KEV since Sources: CVE.org, SingCERT, Siemens ProductCERT, pwn.watch, EUVD, BSI

    What is affected, what to do

    An authentication bypass vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS allows attackers to bypass security restrictions and establish an unauthorized VPN connection. This issue affects the GlobalProtect portal and gateway functions and is actively exploited in the wild, including in ransomware campaigns. Affected versions include PAN-OS 10.2.7 and others, while Panorama and Cloud NGFW are not impacted. Immediate patching to the latest PAN-OS version is critical to mitigate this vulnerability.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. CISA lists it as used in ransomware campaigns. Update Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS to version 12.1.7, Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS to version 12.1.4-h6, Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS to version 11.2.12. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 12.1..12.1.7
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 12.1.0..12.1.4-h6
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.2..11.2.12
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.2..11.2.10-h7
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.2..11.2.7-h14
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.2.0..11.2.4-h17
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.1..11.1.15
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.1..11.1.13-h5
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.1..11.1.10-h25
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.1..11.1.7-h6
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.1..11.1.6-h32
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 11.1.0..11.1.4-h33
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 10.2..10.2.18-h6
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 10.2..10.2.16-h7
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 10.2..10.2.13-h21
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 10.2..10.2.10-h36
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS lt 10.2.0..10.2.7-h34
    • Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access lt 10.2.0..10.2.10-h36
    • Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access lt 11.2.0..11.2.7-h13
    Fixed in
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 12.1.7
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 12.1.4-h6
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.2.12
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.2.10-h7
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.2.7-h14
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.2.4-h17
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.1.15
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.1.13-h5
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.1.10-h25
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.1.7-h6
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.1.6-h32
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 11.1.4-h33
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 10.2.18-h6
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 10.2.16-h7
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 10.2.13-h21
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 10.2.10-h36
    • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS 10.2.7-h34
    • Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access 10.2.10-h36
    • Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access 11.2.7-h13

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    9.1

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    9.1

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org, SingCERT, Siemens ProductCERT, pwn.watch, EUVD, BSI

    95.0 %

    EPSS score

    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.86

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    267.74 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploitedSource: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab), CIRCL KEV, CSA/SingCERT How we classify
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    9.1 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    9.1
    CVSS v4

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    7.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    95.0 %
    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    99.86
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-565

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    This flaw is network-reachable without authentication or user interaction. It hands an attacker a working VPN foothold inside the perimeter, which is exactly the initial access that ransomware operators and access brokers monetise. CISA flags known ransomware campaign use, and the exploitation likelihood ranks among the highest of all tracked CVEs. Any organisation exposing a GlobalProtect portal or gateway on an affected PAN-OS version should treat this as a critical emergency with a patch target measured in hours. Without exposed GlobalProtect, the priority drops sharply, but only if your inventory demonstrably confirms that.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Establish exposure: Inventory every PAN-OS firewall with an active GlobalProtect portal or gateway (show global-protect-portal / show global-protect-gateway, or Network > GlobalProtect in the web UI). The context lists PAN-OS 10.2.7 among the affected versions. Panorama and Cloud NGFW are not affected, so Panorama-based management remains usable.
      • Patch: A patch is available from the vendor. Look up the fixed versions in the Palo Alto Networks Security Advisory for CVE-2026-0257 (security.paloaltonetworks.com) and upgrade internet-facing GlobalProtect instances first. Back up the configuration beforehand and roll HA pairs one member at a time.
      • Review live VPN sessions: Dump all current GlobalProtect sessions (show global-protect-gateway current-user) and reconcile them against AD/IdP. Immediately disconnect unknown users, sessions from implausible geographies, and sessions with no matching authentication log (request global-protect-gateway client-logout).
      • If you cannot patch now: Temporarily disable the GlobalProtect portal and gateway on external interfaces, or restrict access via security policy to known source ranges (partners, branch offices). Record this risk-versus-availability decision in your incident log.
      • Assume compromise if indicators exist: Rotate credentials for VPN-entitled accounts, local firewall admin accounts, and service accounts reachable from the VPN pool. Capture a tech-support file for forensics before you reboot or upgrade.
      • Regulatory clock: For NIS2-scoped entities, prepare the 24-hour early warning to the competent CSIRT or authority (e.g. BSI) if there is evidence of successful access.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Network segmentation: Treat the GlobalProtect IP pool as its own default-deny zone. Allow only explicitly approved applications and destinations. Block SMB (445/tcp), RDP (3389/tcp), WinRM (5985/5986/tcp), and LDAP (389/636/tcp) from the pool, along with access to domain controllers, backup servers, and hypervisor management, unless these are strictly required.
      • Restrict access to the portal: Put a security policy in front of the GlobalProtect interface (typically 443/tcp, IPSec 4501/udp). Geo-block countries you do not need and enable Palo Alto EDLs for known-malicious IPs and bulletproof hosting.
      • IPS/Threat Prevention: Install the latest Applications and Threats content and check whether Palo Alto has published a Threat ID for CVE-2026-0257. If so, attach a Vulnerability Protection profile with action reset-both to the policy carrying GlobalProtect traffic. Look up the Threat ID in the advisory.
      • IAM: Enforce SAML/IdP-backed MFA on both portal and gateway. Make HIP checks mandatory, so that no valid HIP profile means no access. Limit VPN entitlement to a dedicated AD group.
      • Client certificates: Where feasible, require a machine certificate as an additional gateway authentication factor. This blunts a bypass that only targets user authentication.
      • Management hardening: Disable management services and response pages on external interfaces, and expose the admin UI only on the dedicated management network.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • PAN-OS GlobalProtect logs: Look for gateway-connected events with no preceding successful portal-auth/gateway-auth for the same user and source IP. Also flag usernames that do not exist in the directory, and empty or generic usernames. KQL shape: CommonSecurityLog | where DeviceVendor=="Palo Alto Networks" and Activity has "GLOBALPROTECT" and DeviceEventClassID has "gateway-connected" | join kind=leftanti (... gateway-auth success ...) on SourceUserName, SourceIP.
      • VPN login anomalies: Flag first-seen source ASNs and countries per user, concurrent sessions for one account from different IPs, and off-hours connections. Sigma shape: logsource: product: paloalto, service: globalprotect, aggregated as count(distinct src_ip) by user > 1 within 1h.
      • Domain activity from the VPN pool: Watch for Event ID 4624 (logon type 3/10) and 4625 from VPN-pool addresses to servers, 4768/4769 with RC4 encryption (Kerberoasting), and 4662 with DS-Replication GUIDs (DCSync). SPL: index=wineventlog EventCode=4624 src_ip IN (<vpn_pool_cidr>) Logon_Type IN (3,10) | stats dc(dest) by src_ip | where 'dc(dest)'>10.
      • Network telemetry (Zeek/Suricata): Look for SMB, RDP, and LDAP sweeps from the pool (conn.log: many distinct id.resp_h per source with short-lived connections), large outbound transfers via the VPN zone, and rclone or Mega/file-sharing destinations.
      • EDR process ancestry: Alert on PsExec, wmic, AdFind, nltest /domain_trusts, and vssadmin delete shadows in sessions originating from VPN-pool IPs. These are classic precursors to a ransomware deployment.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    Authentication bypass vulnerabilities in the GlobalProtect portal and gateway of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® software allows the attacker to bypass security restrictions and establish an unauthorized VPN connection. Panorama and Cloud NGFW are not impacted by these issues.

    Source: NVD (NIST), CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE), CSA/SingCERT, siemens_advisory, pwn.watch, cvelistv5, ENISA EUVD, BSI CSAF, BSI WID Portal

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    Palo Alto NetworksPrisma Access
    • 11.2.0 – < 11.2.7-h13
    • 10.2.0 – < 10.2.10-h36
    • 11.2.7-h13
    • 10.2.10-h36
    paloaltonetworksprisma_access
    • —
    • —
    Palo Alto NetworksPAN-OS
    • < 12.1.7
    • < 11.1.10-h25
    • < 11.1.4-h33
    • < 10.2.10-h36
    • < 11.1.6-h32
    • < 10.2.7-h34
    • < 11.2.12
    • < 11.1.15
    • < 11.2.4-h17
    • < 11.2.10-h6
    • < 11.2.7-h13
    • < 10.2.16-h7
    • < 12.1.4-h5
    • < 11.1.13-h5
    • < 10.2.18-h6
    • < 11.1.7-h6
    • 12.1.7
    • 11.1.10-h25
    • 11.1.4-h33
    • 10.2.10-h36
    • 11.1.6-h32
    • 10.2.7-h34
    • 11.2.12
    • 11.1.15
    • 11.2.4-h17
    • 11.2.10-h6
    • 11.2.7-h13
    • 10.2.16-h7
    • 12.1.4-h5
    • 11.1.13-h5
    • 10.2.18-h6
    • 11.1.7-h6

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.0
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.1
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.10
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.11
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.12
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.13
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.14
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.15
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.16
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.17
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.18
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.2
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.3
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.4
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.5
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.6
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.7
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.8
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os10.2.9
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os11.1.0
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os11.1.1
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os11.1.10
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os11.1.11
    Otherpalo_alto_networkspan-os11.1.12

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-565Reliance on Cookies without Validation and Integrity Checking

      Base

      The product relies on the existence or values of cookies when performing security-critical operations, but it does not properly ensure that the setting is valid for the associated user.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-565

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited
    CSA/SingCERTCritical Vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Products (opens in a new tab)CSA/SingCERTactively exploited
    CIRCL KEVvulnerability.circl.lu (opens in a new tab)actively exploited
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257-GlobalProtect-Bypass (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-0257 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified

    References & sources

    • security.paloaltonetworks.comPalo Alto Networks PAN-OS — CVE-2026-0257Vendor advisory, Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-0257government-resource, US government resource
    • Siemens ProductCERTproductcert/html/ssa-967325.htmlThird-party advisory
    • pwn.watchpwn.watch: Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS GlobalProtect auth bypass (CVE-2026-0257) now used by Qilin and Inc ransomwarepwn-watch
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2026-0257pwn-watch
    • cisa.govCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogpwn-watch
    • unit42.paloaltonetworks.comActive Exploitation of May 2026 PAN-OS CVE-2026-0257 (Updated October 20)pwn-watch
    • soctember.comGroup-IB Says Initial Access Broker k0t Is Hitting FortiGate, FortiWeb and Palo Alto GlobalProtect Edge Devicespwn-watch
    • thefivenines.comResearchers link k0t campaign to 70,000 exposed firewall credentialspwn-watch

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    One NVD translation into another language is hidden.

    Linked advisories

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