Security advisories

Palo Alto PAN-OS Zero-Day Vulnerability (CVE-2026-0300)

May 6, 2026

3 MINS READ

THE THREAT

On May 5th, 2026, Palo Alto Networks disclosed CVE-2026-0300 (CVSS: 9.3), a critical zero-day buffer overflow vulnerability that impacts the User-ID Authentication Portal (aka Captive Portal) service of PAN-OS software. Exploitation of the vulnerability can enable an unauthenticated attacker to perform Remote Code Execution (RCE) with root privileges on impacted PA-series and VM-series firewalls, leading to full device takeover.

Patches to address CVE-2026-0300 are not currently available, and Palo Alto has confirmed that "limited exploitation" of the vulnerability has been identified. Until patches are released, organizations utilizing PA-series and VM-series devices should follow Palo Alto's recommended mitigation steps for restricting access to the User-ID Authentication Portal.

What we're doing about it

What you should do about it

Additional information

Palo Alto Networks have confirmed that the vulnerability does not impact Prisma Access, Cloud NGFW, or Panorama appliances. As per the timeline provided by Palo Alto, patches to address CVE-2026-0300 will start to become available on May 13th, 2026, one week after its disclosure. Mitigation recommendations provided include restricting access to the User-ID Authentication Portal to only trusted IP addresses, which can "greatly reduce" the risk. At the time of writing, Shadowserver Foundation has identified over 5,800 PAN-OS VM-series firewalls that are exposed to the Internet, with the majority of them being in Asia and North America.

Palo Alto has indicated that exploitation of CVE-2026-0300 has been observed, targeting User-ID Authentication Portals that are "exposed to untrusted IP addresses and/or the public Internet". Based on the details shared by Palo Alto regarding the limited exploitation of CVE-2026-0300, it is likely that attacks involve one specific threat actor or group, but this has not been confirmed. No additional information was shared regarding the identified attacks. At the time of writing, technical details on CVE-2026-0300 are limited, and there is currently no Proof-of-Concept (PoC) exploit code available; however, this can rapidly change. As the vulnerability requires no authentication, is considered low complexity, does not currently have patches, and exploitation has already been identified, eSentire's Threat Intelligence team assesses with medium confidence that widespread exploitation may be seen in the near future.

Impacted Product List
Versions Affected Unaffected
PAN-OS 12.1 < 12.1.4-h5
< 12.1.7
>= 12.1.4-h5 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 12.1.7 (ETA: 05/28)
PAN-OS 11.2 < 11.2.4-h17
< 11.2.7-h13
< 11.2.10-h6
< 11.2.12
>= 11.2.4-h17 (ETA: 05/28)
>= 11.2.7-h13 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 11.2.10-h6 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 11.2.12 (ETA: 05/28)
PAN-OS 11.1 < 11.1.4-h33
< 11.1.6-h32
< 11.1.7-h6
< 11.1.10-h25
< 11.1.13-h5
< 11.1.15
>= 11.1.4-h33 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 11.1.6-h32 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 11.1.7-h6 (ETA: 05/28)
>= 11.1.10-h25 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 11.1.13-h5 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 11.1.15 (ETA: 05/28)
PAN-OS 10.2 < 10.2.7-h34
< 10.2.10-h36
< 10.2.13-h21
< 10.2.16-h7
< 10.2.18-h6
>= 10.2.7-h34 (ETA: 05/28)
>= 10.2.10-h36 (ETA: 05/13)
>= 10.2.13-h21 (ETA: 05/28)
>= 10.2.16-h7 (ETA: 05/28)
>= 10.2.18-h6 (ETA: 05/13)

References:
[1] https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2026-0300
[2] https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/ngfw/administration/user-id/map-ip-addresses-to-users/map-ip-addresses-to-usernames-using-captive-portal/configure-captive-portal
[3] https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u000000CqbiCAC
[4] https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/iot-devices/time-series/?date_range=7&vendor=palo+alto+networks&type=firewall&dataset=count&limit=100&group_by=geo&stacking=stacked

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