CVE-2024-9474: Palo Alto PAN-OS Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2024-9474 Overview

A privilege escalation vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS software allows a PAN-OS administrator with access to the management web interface to perform actions on the firewall with root privileges.

Cloud NGFW and Prisma Access are not impacted by this vulnerability.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability allows an attacker with administrative access under certain conditions to escalate to root privileges, potentially compromising the integrity and security of the affected systems.

Affected Products

• paloaltonetworks pan-os
• Not Available
• Not Available

Discovery Timeline

• Not Available - Vulnerability discovered by Not Available
• Not Available - Responsible disclosure to paloaltonetworks
• Not Available - CVE CVE-2024-9474 assigned
• Not Available - paloaltonetworks releases security patch
• 2024-11-18 - CVE CVE-2024-9474 published to NVD
• 2025-11-04 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-9474

Vulnerability Analysis

The privilege escalation vulnerability stems from improper access control mechanisms in the PAN-OS software, allowing a user with administrative web interface access to escalate privileges and perform unauthorized actions with root access.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is inadequate validation of access permissions in the management interface, resulting in unauthorized elevation potential.

Attack Vector

This issue can be exploited over the network by accessing the management web interface of affected PAN-OS systems with administrative credentials.

# Example exploitation code (sanitized)
# Exploit attempts privileged operation as admin
echo "Unauthorized operation" | sudo -u root

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-9474

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual admin activities in logs
• Unexpected system configuration changes
• Unauthorized access alerts

Detection Strategies

Utilize advanced logging and monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. Implement strict auditing of administrative actions within PAN-OS.

Monitoring Recommendations

Regularly review logs for unusual patterns and employ behavior analytics to spot anomalous actions that may indicate exploitation activity.

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-9474

Immediate Actions Required

• Enforce strong access controls and limit admin interface exposure
• Implement network segmentation to isolate critical systems
• Educate staff about the risks of credential leakage

Patch Information

Ensure that your PAN-OS installations are up to date with the latest security patches by consulting announcements from Palo Alto Networks.

Workarounds

Implement strict firewall rules to limit access to the management interface and use multi-factor authentication to further secure admin accounts.

# Configuration example
# Limit management interface access
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s TRUSTED_IP_ADDRESS -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP