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CVE Record

CVE-2026-0261: PAN-OS: Authenticated Admin Command Injection Vulnerability

Multiple command injection vulnerabilities in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® software enable an authenticated administrator to bypass system restrictions and run arbitrary commands as a root user. To be able to exploit this issue, the user must have access to the PAN-OS CLI or Web UI. The security risk posed by this issue is significantly minimized when CLI access is restricted to a limited group of administrators and by restricting access to the management web interface to only trusted internal IP addresses according to our recommended best practice deployment guidelines https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/community-blogs/tips-amp-tricks-how-to-secure-the-management-access-of-your-palo/ba-p/464431 . This issue is applicable to PAN-OS software on PA-Series and VM-Series firewalls and on Panorama (virtual and M-Series). Cloud NGFW and Prisma Access® are not impacted by these vulnerabilities.

MediumCVSS 6.1Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

An authenticated PAN-OS administrator with CLI or web management access could bypass intended restrictions and run commands as root. This is not a remote unauthenticated issue, but it matters because compromised or overprivileged admin accounts could gain full device control.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted administration-plane risk, not a mass internet worm scenario. Prioritize firewall and Panorama management hardening, validate affected versions, and schedule vendor-directed updates because root command execution can undermine security infrastructure.

Technical view

CVE-2026-0261 is a CWE-78 command injection issue in PAN-OS affecting PA-Series, VM-Series, and Panorama virtual and M-Series deployments. CVSS v4.0 is 6.1 with high privileges required and high impact to vulnerable system confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to affected PAN-OS deployments where an authenticated administrator can reach the CLI or Web UI. Risk rises when management interfaces are broadly reachable or admin access is widely assigned. Cloud NGFW and Prisma Access are listed as unaffected.

Exploitation context

The provided bundle marks KEV as false and CVSS exploit maturity as unproven. No cited source in the bundle states active exploitation, public exploit availability, or exploitation in the wild.

Researcher notes

The key constraint is privilege: exploitation requires authenticated administrator access to the PAN-OS CLI or Web UI. The source bundle does not provide vulnerable parameters, payload details, fixed version numbers, or evidence of exploitation, so validation should stay advisory- and configuration-based.

Mitigation direction

  • Check the Palo Alto Networks advisory for fixed releases and upgrade guidance.
  • Restrict PAN-OS CLI access to a limited group of trusted administrators.
  • Restrict management web access to trusted internal IP addresses only.
  • Review privileged admin accounts and remove unnecessary administrative access.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory PA-Series, VM-Series, and Panorama systems running PAN-OS.
  • Compare PAN-OS versions against the vendor advisory's affected and fixed release information.
  • Confirm Cloud NGFW and Prisma Access are not counted as affected assets.
  • Verify management interfaces are not exposed beyond trusted internal IP ranges.
  • Audit which users can access PAN-OS CLI or Web UI administration.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
4

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · medium confidence lookup

CWE-78: Command execution behavior lookup

Command injection weaknesses can lead defenders to review execution techniques and command interpreter telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

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description · low confidence lookup

Execution behavior lookup

The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-0261 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.1 (4.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/AU:N/R:U/V:C/RE:M/U:Amber

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

2CVSS vectors
4Timeline events
2ADP providers
3Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: total

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
6.1CVSS 4.0MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/AU:N/R:U/V:C/RE:M/U:Amber——palo_alto
5.7CVSS 4.0MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/AU:N/R:U/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber——palo_alto

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 4.0 score

6.1Medium
CVSS 4.0 vector shape for CVE-2026-0261Attack VectorAttack ComplexityAttack RequirementsPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionVS ConfidentialityVS IntegrityVS AvailabilitySS ConfidentialitySS IntegritySS Availability

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/AU:N/R:U/V:C/RE:M/U:Amber

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Attack Requirements
NonePresent
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NonePassiveActive
VS Confidentiality
HighLowNone
VS Integrity
HighLowNone
VS Availability
HighLowNone
SS Confidentiality
HighLowNone
SS Integrity
HighLowNone
SS Availability
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. Source timelinepalo_alto

    Initial publication.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
siemens-SADPADP container

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
Palo Alto NetworksCloud NGFWAllunaffected
Palo Alto NetworksPAN-OS12.1.0, 11.2.0, 11.1.0, 10.2.0unaffected
Palo Alto NetworksPrisma AccessAllunaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-78

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.