Palo Alto Networks Expedition: sql injection flaw under attack

What is affected

Palo Alto Networks Expedition is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.

Palo Alto Networks Expedition contains a SQL injection vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated attacker to reveal Expedition database contents, such as password hashes, usernames, device configurations, and device API keys. With this, attackers can also create and read arbitrary files on the Expedition system.

What an attacker can do

This is a sql injection flaw. It lets an attacker read, change or delete records in the product's database. That often includes user accounts and stored passwords.

How it is reached

Over the internet or network

Access the attacker needs

No account needed

Does the victim have to do something?

No, works without the victim doing anything

What to do

1. At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
2. If you administer Palo Alto Networks Expedition at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
3. If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Vendor advisories and fixes

• security.paloaltonetworks.comsecurity.paloaltonetworks.com/PAN-SA-2024-0010

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on November 14, 2024, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by December 5, 2024, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 100% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99.9% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 9.2 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

An SQL injection vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Expedition allows an unauthenticated attacker to reveal Expedition database contents, such as password hashes, usernames, device configurations, and device API keys. With this, attackers can also create and read arbitrary files on the Expedition system.