CVE-2020-1980

Privilege escalation via restricted CLI command injection

Published Mar 11, 2020 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Command injection in the PAN-OS 8.1 CLI before 8.1.13 allows local users with authenticated CLI access to gain elevated privileges. The restricted CLI passes crafted command input to an underlying shell without sufficient neutralization, allowing escape from the restricted shell. A low-privileged CLI account is required, and successful exploitation executes shell commands with higher privileges.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.63%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Command injection in the PAN-OS 8.1 CLI before 8.1.13 allows local users with authenticated CLI access to gain elevated privileges. The restricted CLI passes crafted command input to an underlying shell without sufficient neutralization, allowing escape from the restricted shell. A low-privileged CLI account is required, and successful exploitation executes shell commands with higher privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-1980
Published
Mar 11, 2020
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Palo Alto Networks
Product
PAN-OS
Classifications
CWE-77, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 11, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=7.1 !>= 7.1.0
  2. Affected versionversion=8.1 < 8.1.13
  3. Affected versionversion=8.1 !>= 8.1.13
  4. Affected versionversion=9.0 !>= 9.0.0
  5. Affected versionversion=9.1 !>= 9.1.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Palo Alto Networks · PAN-OSversion=7.1 !>= 7.1.0; version=8.1 < 8.1.13; version=8.1 !>= 8.1.13; version=9.0 !>= 9.0.0; version=9.1 !>= 9.1.0

Published CVSS scores

7.8Palo Alto NetworksCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.2NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-77Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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