CVE-2025-0111Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS File Read Vulnerability
CVE-2025-0111 is a external control of a file name in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS, rated high (7.1 on CVSS 4.0).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
Input decides which file the software opens, so a caller can point it elsewhere.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker read or write files outside the folders the service meant to expose.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-02-20: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 2.0% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 81% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2025-03-13.
- Upgrade Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS to a fixed version for your release line (10.1.14-h9, 10.2.7-h24, 11.1.6-h1).
- Until it is patched, review who holds accounts that can reach it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
An authenticated file read vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS software enables an authenticated attacker with network access to the management web interface to read files on the PAN-OS filesystem that are readable by the “nobody” user.
You can greatly reduce the risk of this issue by restricting access to the management web interface to only trusted internal IP addresses according to our recommended best practices 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 does not affect Cloud NGFW or Prisma Access software.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Network edge devices: VPNs, firewalls, routers and gateways. They sit between the internet and internal networks, so a flaw in one is often the first step into everything behind it.
- Operating systems on servers, workstations or devices. Everything on the host inherits the flaw.
- File storage the service can read or write. The flaw sits between the application and the file system it can reach.
Trust boundaries in play
- Authenticated network access. An account is needed, so exposure follows who can sign in: customers, partners or staff.
- Between the application and the file system it can reach. An attacker who crosses it can read or write files outside the folders the service meant to expose.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.