Palo Alto PAN-OS Vulnerability Enables Arbitrary Code Execution as Root User
Palo Alto Networks patched CVE-2026-0310, an unauthenticated XML-processing buffer overflow in PAN-OS allowing root code execution on PA-Series firewalls.
Palo Alto Networks disclosed CVE-2026-0310, an out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) in PAN-OS XML processing with a CVSS-B base score of 9.2 and CVSS-BT of 7.2. An unauthenticated attacker with network access to a vulnerable management or dataplane interface can send crafted XML to execute arbitrary code as root on PA-Series appliances. On VM-Series the impact is limited to denial-of-service, while Prisma Access and Cloud NGFW require authentication and carry lower risk. Fixed releases include 12.2.3, 12.1.10, 11.2.13-h2, 11.1.16-h2, and 10.2.18-h10; no workaround exists beyond restricting management interface access.