Palo Alto Networks has issued urgent warnings about threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities in PAN-OS, the operating system powering its next-generation firewalls.
Coordinated attacks can exploit flaws in authentication and privilege escalation to gain unauthorized access to unpatched devices, threatening the security of enterprise networks.
CVE-2025-0108 is a serious authentication bypass vulnerability in the management web interface of PAN-OS that is currently being exploited.
On February 12, 2025, Assetnote researchers found a vulnerability that lets unauthenticated attackers execute certain PHP scripts, threatening system confidentiality and integrity.
Although this vulnerability doesn’t allow for remote code execution, its exploitation increased rapidly after it was disclosed, with GreyNoise tracking 25 malicious IPs by February 18.
Hackers Chaining Multiple Palo Alto Vulnerabilities:
Palo Alto Networks reported that hackers are linking CVE-2025-0108 with two other vulnerabilities:
CVE-2024-9474: A privilege escalation vulnerability (CVSS 6.9) allows authenticated administrators to run root-level commands. Since November 2024, it has been exploited for cryptojacking, webshell installations, and sensitive data theft.
CVE-2025-0111: A medium-severity file read vulnerability (CVSS 4.9) allows authenticated users to access files readable by the “nobody” account. Attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities to bypass authentication, escalate privileges, and gain full root access to firewalls.
Mitigations:
Palo Alto Networks has urged customers to:
Immediately patch affected PAN-OS versions (10.1, 10.2, 11.1, 11.2).
Restrict management interface access to trusted IPs, avoiding public internet exposure.
Monitor for suspicious activity, particularly PHP script executions and unauthorized file reads.
The company emphasized that PAN-OS 11.0, which reached end-of-life in November 2024, will not receive updates, necessitating upgrades to supported versions.
CISA added CVE-2025-0108 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on February 19, mandating federal agencies to remediate it by March 7, 2025.
The ongoing exploitation of vulnerabilities in Palo Alto points out the dangers of publicly accessible management interfaces. According to Assetnote’s Shubham Shah, CVE-2025-0108 needs to be combined with other flaws, but the high number of unpatched systems and available public exploits makes it easier for attackers.
Steven Thai, a Palo Alto spokesperson said, “The security of our customers remains our top priority. We strongly advise applying fixes to mitigate these chained attacks.”