CVE-2026-0281
Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os 10.2.0 – 11.1.16
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:N/R:A/V:D/RE:M/U:AmberSummary
CVE-2026-0281 is a low-severity Use of Cache Containing Sensitive Information (CWE-524) vulnerability in Paloaltonetworks Pan-Os. Its CVSS base score is 2.1 (Low).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557); ranked at the 6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SC-7 (Boundary Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-42680
Vulnerability Data
An information disclosure vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® software enables an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the management web interface to obtain web session tokens. This requires a legitimate user to first click on a malicious link provided…
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by the attacker. The security risk posed by this issue is minimized by restricting access to the management web interface to only trusted internal IP addresses according to our recommended best practice deployment guidelines https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/community-blogs/tips-amp-tricks-how-to-secure-the-management-access-of-your-palo/ba-p/464431 . This issue is applicable to PAN-OS software on PA-Series and VM-Series firewalls and on Panorama (virtual and M-Series). Cloud NGFW and Prisma® Access are not impacted by this vulnerability.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The vulnerability enables an adversary-in-the-middle attack (T1557) via a malicious link (T1189, T1566.002) that leads to theft of web session cookies (T1539) from the PAN-OS management interface.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces network-level restrictions on access to the management web interface, blocking unauthenticated attackers from reaching the vulnerable endpoint.
Enforces access control policy that permits only explicitly authorized internal addresses to reach the PAN-OS management interface where session tokens can be disclosed.
Requires explicit authorization, encryption, and endpoint restrictions for any remote connections to the management interface, limiting exposure of session tokens.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Protecting confidentiality of data-at-rest covers caches that persist sensitive information.
Enforcing least-privilege access permissions directly limits who can read cached sensitive data.
Protecting data-in-use can mitigate exposure when caches hold transient sensitive values.
Logical access controls on environments reduce the chance an outsider can reach the cache.
Hardened configuration baselines can disable or secure caching of sensitive data.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Data leakage prevention can block unauthorized access to cached sensitive information.
Information access restriction directly limits who can read cached sensitive data.
Information deletion ensures sensitive data is removed from caches when no longer needed.
Cryptography can protect cached data at rest, but does not address access control scope.
Secure coding practices prevent caching of sensitive data outside intended boundaries.
Environment separation reduces risk of cache exposure across development/test/production.