Skip to content
Fencer Vulns
medium 5.8

CVE-2020-1978 json

VM-Series on Microsoft Azure: Inadvertent collection of credentials in Tech support files on HA configured VMs

published 2020-04-08 6 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2020-12768

cvss
5.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.3%
EPSS 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 23%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

TechSupport files generated on Palo Alto Networks VM Series firewalls for Microsoft Azure platform configured with high availability (HA) inadvertently collect Azure dashboard service account credentials. These credentials are equivalent to the credentials associated with the Contributor role in Azure. A user with the credentials will be able to manage all the Azure resources in the subscription except for granting access to other resources. These credentials do not allow login access to the VMs themselves. This issue affects VM Series Plugin versions before 1.0.9 for PAN-OS 9.0. This issue does not affect VM Series in non-HA configurations or on other cloud platforms. It does not affect hardware firewall appliances. Since becoming aware of the issue, Palo Alto Networks has safely deleted all the tech support files with the credentials. We now filter and remove these credentials from all TechSupport files sent to us. The TechSupport files uploaded to Palo Alto Networks systems were only accessible by authorized personnel with valid Palo Alto Networks credentials. We do not have any evidence of malicious access or use of these credentials.

Patch / fix

  • Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Plugin 1.0.9

Exploit prediction

0.31% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 23% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
NVD 3.1 4.4 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVD 2.0 1.9 AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Affected products

  • Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Plugin

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-255 Credentials Management Errors
  • CWE-522 Insufficiently Protected Credentials
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.