Palo Alto Networks Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (PAL5292352111325)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Palo Alto Networks breach identified under incident ID PAL5292352111325.

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 779 and after the incident was 777 with a difference of -2 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 "Critical Denial-of-Service Vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Software", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.

A critical denial-of-service vulnerability (CVE-TBD) has been identified in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS software that allows unauthenticated attackers to remotely reboot firewalls by crafting specially designed packets through the data plane.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting {'type': 'PA-Series Firewalls', 'versions': ['10.2 (all ≤ 10.2.13)', '11.1 (all ≤ 11.1.6)', '11.2 (< 11.2.5)']}, {'type': 'VM-Series Firewalls', 'versions': ['10.2 (all ≤ 10.2.13)', '11.1 (all ≤ 11.1.6)', '11.2 (< 11.2.5)']} and {'type': 'Prisma Access', 'versions': ['Underlying PAN-OS versions (see above)']}.

In response, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Urgent patching to remediated versions and Hotfix application (e.g., 10.2.13-h3, 11.1.6-h1), and began remediation that includes {'product': 'PAN-OS 10.2', 'action': 'Upgrade to 10.2.14 or apply hotfix 10.2.13-h3+'}, {'product': 'PAN-OS 11.1', 'action': 'Upgrade to 11.1.7 or apply hotfix 11.1.6-h1/11.1.4-h13'} and {'product': 'PAN-OS 11.2', 'action': 'Upgrade to 11.2.5 or apply hotfixes'}, and stakeholders are being briefed through Public advisory with remediation guidance and Customer notifications for Prisma Access upgrades.

The case underscores how Ongoing (no active exploitation detected; patches released), teams are taking away lessons such as Criticality of prompt patching for network infrastructure vulnerabilities, Risks of DoS vulnerabilities enabling secondary attacks and Importance of maintenance windows for security updates, and recommending next steps like Immediately upgrade to patched PAN-OS versions (10.2.14, 11.1.7, 11.2.5+) or apply hotfixes, Prioritize remediation during next maintenance window for Prisma Access and Monitor for signs of exploitation (unexpected reboots, maintenance mode), with advisories going out to stakeholders covering Public security advisory issued by Palo Alto Networks.

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 Impact tactic, the analysis identified Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including unauthenticated attackers to remotely reboot firewalls by sending maliciously crafted packets, and forced maintenance mode, disabling network protections and Network Denial of Service (T1498) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including network-based, no-authentication exploitability via data plane packets, and loss of firewall protection, network disruption. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including vulnerability in PAN-OS data plane packet handling (CWE-754, CAPEC-129), and no authentication or user interaction required. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (T1562.001) with moderate to high confidence (85%), with evidence including disabling network protection capabilities, and firewalls forced into maintenance mode. Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Kernel Modules and Extensions (T1547.006) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including pointer manipulation (CAPEC-129) in firewall software, and repeated exploits can force maintenance mode (suggests persistent disruptive state). These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.