# Palo Alto PAN-OS GlobalProtect remote code execution under active attack

Published: 2024-04-18 · Severity: high · Sectors: defense, government-national, energy, financial-services, infrastructure
Canonical: https://vorant.io/reports/d1470afc-4fe8-5744-91e8-6711ff520538/palo-alto-pan-os-globalprotect-remote-code-execution-under-active-attack

> Unauthenticated remote code execution in PAN-OS GlobalProtect is being exploited in the wild; hotfixes available for all affected versions.

Palo Alto Networks has disclosed CVE-2024-3400, an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in the GlobalProtect feature of PAN-OS. An attacker exploiting this flaw can execute arbitrary code with root privileges on affected firewalls without authentication. The vendor confirmed active exploitation in the wild and has released hotfixes for all affected PAN-OS versions. IPA reports that attacks exploiting this vulnerability have been observed domestically in Japan, making urgent patching critical.

Cloud NGFW, Panorama appliances, and Prisma Access are unaffected. Organizations with Threat Prevention subscriptions can apply a temporary mitigation, though Palo Alto Networks recommends upgrading to patched versions regardless. The vendor has provided detection methods via CLI commands and offers investigation services through its customer support portal to determine whether devices have been compromised. Earlier mitigation advice to disable device telemetry has been deemed ineffective.

## Mentioned in this report

- Vulnerabilities: CVE-2024-3400 (KEV)

## Detection guidance (public sample)

### PAN-OS GlobalProtect SESSID Cookie Path Traversal (CVE-2024-3400)

ATT&CK: T1190

Detects GlobalProtect requests whose SESSID cookie carries directory traversal sequences or the telemetry directory path, the file-creation primitive used to exploit CVE-2024-3400. Auto-generated starting point — validate and tune in your environment before deploying. IOC matches can false-positive on shared infrastructure and decay as adversary infrastructure rotates.

```yaml
title: PAN-OS GlobalProtect SESSID Cookie Path Traversal (CVE-2024-3400)
description: Detects web requests to a PAN-OS GlobalProtect interface whose SESSID
  cookie contains directory traversal sequences or references the device telemetry
  directory. This is the arbitrary file creation primitive used to exploit CVE-2024-3400.
  Matches on the technique pattern, not on attacker infrastructure.
tags:
- attack.initial-access
- attack.t1190
- cve.2024-3400
logsource:
  category: webserver
detection:
  selection_cookie:
    cs-cookie|contains: SESSID=
  selection_traversal:
    cs-cookie|contains:
    - SESSID=../
    - SESSID=..%2f
    - SESSID=%2e%2e
    - /device_telemetry/
  condition: selection_cookie and selection_traversal
falsepositives:
- Vulnerability scanners or red-team exercises testing for CVE-2024-3400 against the
  firewall
- Security appliances that log decoded cookie values from patch-validation testing
level: high
id: c0855d71-3b7b-57d5-b2e8-fcac70d08502
status: experimental
author: Vorant
references:
- https://www.ipa.go.jp/security/security-alert/2024/alert20240415.html
```

### PAN-OS GlobalProtect SESSID Cookie Shell Command Injection

ATT&CK: T1190

Detects shell metacharacters or command-substitution tokens inside the SESSID cookie of GlobalProtect requests, indicating command injection for RCE. Auto-generated starting point — validate and tune in your environment before deploying. IOC matches can false-positive on shared infrastructure and decay as adversary infrastructure rotates.

```yaml
title: PAN-OS GlobalProtect SESSID Cookie Shell Command Injection
description: Detects SESSID cookies containing shell command substitution or IFS-based
  command separators such as backticks, ${IFS}, or pipe-to-shell. These are used to
  turn the CVE-2024-3400 file-name injection into root command execution on the firewall.
tags:
- attack.initial-access
- attack.t1190
- cve.2024-3400
logsource:
  category: webserver
detection:
  selection_cookie:
    cs-cookie|contains: SESSID=
  selection_injection:
    cs-cookie|contains:
    - '`'
    - ${IFS}
    - $(IFS)
    - '|bash'
    - '|sh'
    - '%60'
  condition: selection_cookie and selection_injection
falsepositives:
- Penetration tests or vulnerability scans against GlobalProtect portals
level: high
id: a66e114a-1f8b-5baf-9780-e8ddd676e30f
status: experimental
author: Vorant
references:
- https://www.ipa.go.jp/security/security-alert/2024/alert20240415.html
```

Behavioural rules are generated from public reporting — validate in your environment before deploying.

Source reporting: https://www.ipa.go.jp/security/security-alert/2024/alert20240415.html

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