CVE-2020-2021

CRITICALNVD 10.010.0—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 10.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-25), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 10.0 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
10.0
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS: 4%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

When Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication is enabled and the 'Validate Identity Provider Certificate' option is disabled (unchecked), improper verification of signatures in PAN-OS SAML authentication enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to access protected resources. The attacker must have network access to the vulnerable server to exploit this vulnerability. This issue affects PAN-OS 9.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.1.3; PAN-OS 9.0 versions earlier than PAN-OS 9.0.9; PAN-OS 8.1 versions earlier than PAN-OS 8.1.15, and all versions of PAN-OS 8.0 (EOL). This issue does not affect PAN-OS 7.1. This issue cannot be exploited if SAML is not used for authentication. This issue cannot be exploited if the 'Validate Identity Provider Certificate' option is enabled (checked) in the SAML Identity Provider Server Profile. Resources that can be protected by SAML-based single sign-on (SSO) authentication are: GlobalProtect Gateway, GlobalProtect Portal, GlobalProtect Clientless VPN, Authentication and Captive Portal, PAN-OS next-generation firewalls (PA-Series, VM-Series) and Panorama web interfaces, Prisma Access In the case of GlobalProtect Gateways, GlobalProtect Portal, Clientless VPN, Captive Portal, and Prisma Access, an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the affected servers can gain access to protected resources if allowed by configured authentication and Security policies. There is no impact on the integrity and availability of the gateway, portal or VPN server. An attacker cannot inspect or tamper with sessions of regular users. In the worst case, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N). In the case of PAN-OS and Panorama web interfaces, this issue allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the PAN-OS or Panorama web interfaces to log in as an administrator and perform administrative actions. In the worst-case scenario, this is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS Base Score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). If the web interfaces are only accessible to a restricted management network, then the issue is lowered to a CVSS Base Score of 9.6 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious attempts to exploit this vulnerability.

CVSS v3
10.0
EG Score
10.0(high)
EG Risk
100(Act)
EG Risk 100/100SSVC: Act

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity100% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Fix now — active exploitation, automatable, high impact.
EPSS
90.2%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

June 29, 2020

Last Modified

November 4, 2025

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Jul 18, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available. Sources: cisa.
cisa Patch Available🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-2021
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

CVE-2020-2021 PAN-OS: Authentication Bypass in SAML Authentication

https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-2021

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 59× in last 7d / 230× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 415 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-07-23 01:50 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-07-22 21:44 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-22 21:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-07-22 19:40 UTCCISA KEV update
  5. 2026-07-22 17:19 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-07-22 17:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-22 13:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-07-22 08:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-07-22 04:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-07-22 00:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-07-21 19:19 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-07-21 19:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-21 15:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-07-21 14:37 UTCCISA KEV update
  18. 2026-07-21 10:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-07-21 06:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-07-21 02:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-07-20 22:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-07-20 17:44 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-07-20 17:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-07-20 13:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-07-20 09:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-07-20 04:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-07-20 00:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-07-19 20:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-07-19 16:14 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-07-19 16:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-19 11:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-07-19 07:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-07-19 03:19 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-07-19 03:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-18 23:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-07-18 18:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-07-18 14:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-07-18 10:18 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-07-18 10:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-07-18 06:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-07-18 01:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-07-17 21:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-07-17 17:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-07-17 13:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-07-17 08:45 UTCEG score recompute
  27. 2026-07-17 08:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-07-17 04:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-07-17 00:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-07-16 19:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-07-16 17:04 UTCCISA KEV update
  32. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-07-16 15:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-07-16 11:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-07-16 07:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-07-16 02:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-07-15 22:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  38. 2026-07-15 18:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-07-15 16:49 UTCCISA KEV update
  42. 2026-07-15 15:04 UTCCISA KEV update
  43. 2026-07-15 14:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-07-15 09:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-07-15 05:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-07-15 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-07-15 01:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-07-14 21:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-07-14 18:05 UTCCISA KEV update
  50. 2026-07-14 16:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-07-14 12:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-07-14 08:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-07-14 04:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-07-13 23:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-07-13 22:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-07-13 22:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-07-13 19:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-07-13 17:07 UTCCISA KEV update
  59. 2026-07-13 15:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-07-13 11:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-07-13 06:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-07-13 02:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-07-12 22:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-07-12 18:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-07-12 13:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-07-12 09:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-07-12 05:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  70. 2026-07-12 05:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-07-12 01:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-07-11 20:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-07-11 16:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-07-11 12:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-2021?
CVE-2020-2021 is a critical vulnerability published on June 29, 2020. When Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication is enabled and the 'Validate Identity Provider Certificate' option is disabled (unchecked), improper verification of signatures in PAN-OS SAML authentication enables an unauthenticated network-based attacker to access protected…
When was CVE-2020-2021 disclosed?
CVE-2020-2021 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on June 29, 2020, with the most recent update on November 4, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2020-2021 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-2021 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on March 25, 2022, affecting Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-2021?
CVE-2020-2021 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2020-2021?
CVE-2020-2021 affects Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2020-2021?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2020-2021, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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