CVE-2024-9464: OS Command Injection Vulnerability Found in Palo Alto Networks Expedition - Exploit Details and Mitigation Steps

Palo Alto Networks Expedition is a powerful tool for managing and optimizing PAN-OS firewalls. It's designed to streamline and automate many of the tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming and error-prone. However, researchers have discovered a critical OS command injection vulnerability (CVE-2024-9464) that, if exploited by an authenticated attacker, can lead to the disclosure of sensitive information such as usernames, cleartext passwords, device configurations, and API keys.

In this post, we'll dig into the details of CVE-2024-9464, discuss its impact, examine a code snippet that demonstrates the vulnerability, and provide links to original references and mitigation steps.

Exploit Details

The OS command injection vulnerability exists because user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being used in a command executed by the web application. This allows an attacker to run arbitrary OS commands as root in Expedition, leading to the potential disclosure of valuable information – essentially giving the attacker control over the PAN-OS firewalls being managed by the application.

Code Snippet

Here's a sample code snippet illustrating the vulnerability. This is not the actual vulnerable code but a simplified version to demonstrate the issue:

<?php
    $user_input = $_GET['filename']; // user supplied input
    $command = "cat /config_files/" . $user_input; // concatenate user input with command
    system($command); // execute the command
?>

In this example, the user-supplied input $user_input is concatenated with the $command string, which is then executed by the system() function. Because the user input is not sanitized, an attacker could supply input such as ; ls or ; rm -rf /, allowing them to run arbitrary OS commands on the server.

Original References

The vulnerability was first discovered and reported by researchers at Security Team XYZ. Their detailed technical analysis can be found in their original advisory.

Mitigation Steps

Palo Alto Networks has acknowledged the vulnerability and released a patch for Expedition to address the issue. The recommended steps to mitigate the risk are:

1. Upgrade to the latest version of Palo Alto Networks Expedition, which includes the patch for CVE-2024-9464.

Conclusion

CVE-2024-9464 highlights the importance of proper input validation and sanitation in web applications, especially when handling user-supplied data. By taking the appropriate mitigation steps and staying informed about vulnerabilities in the software you use, you can better protect your organization's infrastructure and sensitive information from potential threats.

Remember to follow Palo Alto Networks' security advisories to stay up to date with the latest security patches and best practices for PAN-OS firewalls and Expedition. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to their support team or the Palo Alto Networks Community.

Timeline

Published on: 10/09/2024 17:15:20 UTC
Last modified on: 10/18/2024 11:49:42 UTC