Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (UNI1532215112025)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 breach identified under incident ID UNI1532215112025.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Palo Alto Networks Unit 42's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unit42, the number of followers: 86595, the industry type: Computer and Network Security and the number of employees: 428 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 744 and after the incident was 727 with a difference of -17 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 Unit 42 and their customers.

On 14 November 2025, Palo Alto Networks disclosed Brute-Force Attack, Coordinated Campaign and Reconnaissance issues under the banner "Massive Brute-Force Campaign Targeting Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect VPN Systems".

Security researchers at GreyNoise uncovered a massive spike in cyberattacks targeting Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect VPN systems.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect VPN systems and PAN-OS management interfaces.

In response, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Upgrade to patched versions of PAN-OS/GlobalProtect, Restrict management interface access to trusted internal IPs and Monitor for anomalous login attempts from suspicious ASNs (AS200373, AS208885), and began remediation that includes Apply patches for CVE-2025-0108, CVE-2025-2183, CVE-2025-0141, CVE-2025-0140 and Block malicious IPs via GreyNoise Block solution.

The case underscores how Ongoing (GreyNoise assessment), teams are taking away lessons such as Brute-force spikes against VPN systems (e.g., Fortinet) often precede vulnerability disclosures by ~6 weeks, Distributed hosting infrastructure (e.g., AS200373) can obfuscate threat actor origins and Consistent JA4t fingerprints can help attribute coordinated campaigns, and recommending next steps like Immediately upgrade to patched versions of PAN-OS and GlobalProtect, Restrict VPN management interface access to trusted IPs and Monitor for anomalous traffic from AS200373 (3xK Tech GmbH, Germany) and AS208885 (Noyobzoda Faridduni Saidilhom), with advisories going out to stakeholders covering Palo Alto Networks customers advised to patch systems and monitor for suspicious activity.

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 Reconnaissance tactic, the analysis identified Active Scanning: Vulnerability Scanning (T1595.001) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including brute-force scanning operation, potentially signaling upcoming exploitation of vulnerabilities, and historical correlation with pre-exploitation scanning (similar to past Fortinet VPN breaches) and Gather Victim Network Information: IP Addresses (T1590.005) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including top targets such as U.S., Mexico, Pakistan, and 2.3 million malicious sessions targeted the /global-protect/login.esp URI. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Brute Force: Password Guessing (T1110.001) with high confidence (100%), with evidence including massive, coordinated brute-force cyberattack targeting GlobalProtect VPN systems, and 40-fold spike in malicious sessions (2.3 million attacks) in 24 hours, Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts (T1078.004) with moderate to high confidence (85%), with evidence including credential Stuffing under attack_vector, and potential for follow-on attacks including credential theft, and Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including exploitation of VPN Login Portals, and cVE-2025-0108 (authentication bypass in PAN-OS) actively exploited. Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Brute Force (T1110) with high confidence (100%), with evidence including massive brute-force cyberattack, and credential Stuffing listed as attack_vector and Credentials from Password Stores: Credentials from Web Browsers (T1555.003) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including credential Harvesting under motivation, and identity theft risk such as High (if credentials are compromised). Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Network Boundary Bridging: Tunneling (T1001.003) with moderate to high confidence (80%), with evidence including distributed hosting infrastructure (AS200373, AS208885), and consistent JA4t fingerprints to evade detection and Obfuscated Files or Information: Software Packing (T1027.002) with moderate to high confidence (75%), supported by evidence indicating consistent TCP/JA4t signatures to mask traffic patterns. Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials (T1098.003) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including potential for follow-on attacks including credential theft, and high value targets such as Enterprise VPN systems. Under the Discovery tactic, the analysis identified Network Service Discovery (T1046) with moderate to high confidence (85%), with evidence including indiscriminate global targeting of VPN login portals, and temporal patterns matching previous campaigns. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.