Palo Alto Networks Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (PAL1480714112625)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Palo Alto Networks breach identified under incident ID PAL1480714112625.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Palo Alto Networks's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/palo-alto-networks, the number of followers: 1667098, the industry type: Computer and Network Security and the number of employees: 17868 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 827 and after the incident was 824 with a difference of -3 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Palo Alto Networks and their customers.

Palo Alto Networks recently reported "Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect Reflected XSS Vulnerability (CVE-2025-0133)", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.

Palo Alto Networks has disclosed a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-0133, affecting the GlobalProtect gateway and portal features of its PAN-OS software.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting GlobalProtect Gateway, GlobalProtect Portal and Clientless VPN, and exposing User Session Cookies and Credentials.

In response, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Disable Clientless VPN functionality and Enable Threat Prevention IDs 510003 and 510004 (Applications and Threats content version 8970), and began remediation that includes Upgrade to patched PAN-OS versions (expected releases: June–August 2025) and User awareness training for suspicious links, and stakeholders are being briefed through Public Advisory by Palo Alto Networks.

The case underscores how Ongoing (no confirmed malicious exploitation reported as of disclosure), teams are taking away lessons such as Clientless VPN introduces elevated risk for reflected XSS vulnerabilities, Proof-of-concept exploits in the wild necessitate proactive mitigation even before active exploitation is observed and User training remains critical for mitigating social engineering-based attacks, and recommending next steps like Prioritize patching PAN-OS versions based on Clientless VPN usage, Disable Clientless VPN if not essential to operations and Deploy Threat Prevention signatures (IDs 510003, 510004) for affected systems, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering Palo Alto Networks customers using affected PAN-OS versions.

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Phishing: Spearphishing Link (T1566.002) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including tricking users into clicking malicious links via crafted GlobalProtect portal URLs, and social engineering risk and convincing phishing and credential-stealing links. Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Credentials from Web Browsers (T1555.003) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including credential theft through phishing via malicious JavaScript in authenticated users browsers, and user Session Cookies, Credentials listed as compromised data and Steal Web Session Cookie (T1539) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including user Session Cookies and Session Tokens identified as compromised data, and malicious JavaScript execution in Captive Portal context. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Obfuscated Files or Information: Compile After Delivery (T1027.004) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including crafted links executing JavaScript in victims browsers (dynamic payload execution), and poC exploit code available for dynamic XSS payload generation. Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Screen Capture (T1113) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating malicious JavaScript in browser context *could* enable screen capture (implied by XSS capabilities) and Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript (T1059.007) with moderate to high confidence (85%), with evidence including execution of malicious JavaScript in authenticated users browsers, and cWE-79 (XSS) enabling arbitrary script execution. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (80%), with evidence including potential (if credentials are stolen) exfiltration via JavaScript callbacks, and xSS typically exfiltrates data to attacker-controlled servers. Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Server Software Component: Web Shell (T1505.003) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating xSS in Captive Portal *could* enable persistent web shell if storage XSS chained (theoretical). These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.