2026-05-12HIGHexploitedA PAN-OS Captive Portal overflow gives unauthenticated attackers root on exposed firewalls; Unit 42 saw tunnelling and AD enumeration afterwards
PAN-OS User-ID Authentication Portal buffer overflow, unauthenticated root RCE (CVSS 4.0 9.3), exploited by CL-STA-1132, CISA KEV 2026-05-06; fixed builds on every supported branch
cve · CVE-2026-0300
Coverage
1
first 2026-05-07 → last 2026-10-11
Latest activity
2026-05-13
A PAN-OS Captive Portal overflow gives unauthenticated attackers root on exposed firewalls; Unit 42 saw…
Peak priority
high
1 high
Targets
·
no sector or region stated
Sources cited
3
3 hosts
Action items (1)
Do-now tasks recorded on the entries about CVE-2026-0300, newest first. Check the date before acting on an older one.
- Upgrade every PA-Series and VM-Series firewall with the User-ID Authentication Portal enabled to the fixed build for its branch (for example 12.1.4-h5, 11.2.10-h6, 11.1.13-h5 or 10.2.18-h6, per the advisory table); until then restrict the portal to trusted zones and disable Response Pages on untrusted L3 interfaces, and check any device that was exposed before patching for the Unit 42 post-exploitation behaviours.2026-05-12CVE-2026-0300
Defender insights
What each entry about CVE-2026-0300 tells a defender to do, newest first.
Exposure · detection
Story timeline
Hunting pivots
Affected products
ATT&CK techniques (6 across 5 tactics)
6 techniques observed across 1 entry about this entity, derived from entry metadata and body evidence, never asserted without a published entry behind it · pinned to MITRE ATT&CK v20.0 · compare on the matrix · Navigator layer (JSON)
- Initial AccessExploit Public-Facing Application
- Privilege EscalationProcess Injection
- StealthProcess Injection · Indicator Removal
- DiscoveryAccount Discovery: Domain Account
- Command and ControlProxy · Protocol Tunneling
Initial Access TA0001
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application×1
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network. The weakness in the system can be a software bug, a temporary glitch, or a misconfiguration.
Evidence: 2026-05-12/palo-alto-pan-os-cve-2026-0300-first-wave-fixed-builds-now-s · ATT&CK page ↗
Privilege Escalation TA0004
T1055Process Injection×1
Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. Process injection is a method of executing arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process. Running code in the context of another process may allow access to the process's memory, system/network resources, and possibly elevated privileges. Execution via process injection may also evade detection from security products since the execution is masked under a legitimate process.
Evidence: 2026-05-12/palo-alto-pan-os-cve-2026-0300-first-wave-fixed-builds-now-s · ATT&CK page ↗
Stealth TA0005
T1055Process Injection×1
Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. Process injection is a method of executing arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process. Running code in the context of another process may allow access to the process's memory, system/network resources, and possibly elevated privileges. Execution via process injection may also evade detection from security products since the execution is masked under a legitimate process.
Evidence: 2026-05-12/palo-alto-pan-os-cve-2026-0300-first-wave-fixed-builds-now-s · ATT&CK page ↗
T1070Indicator Removal×1
Adversaries may selectively delete or modify artifacts generated to reduce indications of their presence and blend in with legitimate activity. Rather than broadly removing evidence, adversaries may target specific artifacts that appear anomalous or are likely to draw scrutiny, while leaving sufficient data intact to maintain the appearance of normal system behavior.
Evidence: 2026-05-12/palo-alto-pan-os-cve-2026-0300-first-wave-fixed-builds-now-s · ATT&CK page ↗
Discovery TA0007
T1087.002Account Discovery: Domain Account×1
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of domain accounts. This information can help adversaries determine which domain accounts exist to aid in follow-on behavior such as targeting specific accounts which possess particular privileges.
Evidence: 2026-05-12/palo-alto-pan-os-cve-2026-0300-first-wave-fixed-builds-now-s · ATT&CK page ↗
Command and Control TA0011
T1090Proxy×1
Adversaries may use a connection proxy to direct network traffic between systems or act as an intermediary for network communications to a command and control server to avoid direct connections to their infrastructure. Many tools exist that enable traffic redirection through proxies or port redirection, including HTRAN, ZXProxy, and ZXPortMap. Adversaries use these types of proxies to manage command and control communications, reduce the number of simultaneous outbound network connections, provide resiliency in the face of connection loss, or to ride over existing trusted communications paths between victims to avoid suspicion. Adversaries may chain together multiple proxies to further disguise the source of malicious traffic.
Evidence: 2026-05-12/palo-alto-pan-os-cve-2026-0300-first-wave-fixed-builds-now-s · ATT&CK page ↗
T1572Protocol Tunneling×1
Adversaries may tunnel network communications to and from a victim system within a separate protocol to avoid detection/network filtering and/or enable access to otherwise unreachable systems. Tunneling involves explicitly encapsulating a protocol within another. This behavior may conceal malicious traffic by blending in with existing traffic and/or provide an outer layer of encryption (similar to a VPN). Tunneling could also enable routing of network packets that would otherwise not reach their intended destination, such as SMB, RDP, or other traffic that would be filtered by network appliances or not routed over the Internet.
Evidence: 2026-05-12/palo-alto-pan-os-cve-2026-0300-first-wave-fixed-builds-now-s · ATT&CK page ↗
Entries about PAN-OS User-ID Authentication Portal buffer overflow, unauthenticated root RCE (CVSS 4.0 9.3), exploited by CL-STA-1132, CISA KEV 2026-05-06; fixed builds on every supported branch (1)
Co-occurring entities
Derived: referenced by the same focused operational entries (weekly summaries and report roundups don't count); ×N counts the shared entries.
Where this entity is cited
Source distribution
- cisa.gov1 (33%)
- security.paloaltonetworks.com1 (33%)
- unit42.paloaltonetworks.com1 (33%)
External references
All cited sources (3)
- security.paloaltonetworks.comprimaryPalo Alto Networks PSIRThttps://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2026-0300
- cisa.govCISA KEV cataloghttps://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json
- unit42.paloaltonetworks.comUnit 42https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/captive-portal-zero-day/