TechSupport files generated on Palo Alto Networks VM Series firewalls for Microsoft Azure platform configured with high availability (HA) inadvertently collect Azure dashboard service account credentials. These credentials are equivalent to the credentials associated with the Contributor role in Azure. A user with the credentials will be able to manage all the Azure resources in the subscription except for granting access to other resources. These credentials do not allow login access to the VMs themselves. This issue affects VM Series Plugin versions before 1.0.9 for PAN-OS 9.0. This issue does not affect VM Series in non-HA configurations or on other cloud platforms. It does not affect hardware firewall appliances. Since becoming aware of the issue, Palo Alto Networks has safely deleted all the tech support files with the credentials. We now filter and remove these credentials from all TechSupport files sent to us. The TechSupport files uploaded to Palo Alto Networks systems were only accessible by authorized personnel with valid Palo Alto Networks credentials. We do not have any evidence of malicious access or use of these credentials.
CVE-2020-1978
This medium-severity CVE scores 5.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.3%, top 77% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- Lower severity and no public exploit yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 5.8
- EG Score
- 5.8(medium)
- EG Risk
- 31(Track)EG Risk 31/100SSVC: Track
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity58% × 45%Exploitation0% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS
- 22.9%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
April 8, 2020
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (2)
- psirt@paloaltonetworkshttps://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-1978
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-1978
Weakness Classification(2)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 12× in last 7d / 44× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-23 01:50 UTCEG score recompute
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- 2026-05-27 05:22 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-27 05:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
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Related CVEs(same CWE)
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-255 · CWE-522
- CVE-2016-0898EG 10.0CRITICAL
- CVE-2013-7055EG 9.8EPSS 93%CRITICAL
- CVE-2013-7052EG 9.8EPSS 98%CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-3445EG 9.8EPSS 92%CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-5381EG 9.8EPSS 94%CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-5093EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2016-4401EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2015-1320NVD 5.5EG 9.8MEDIUM
- CVE-2010-5305EG 9.8EPSS 92%CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-5433EG 9.8CRITICAL
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2020-1978?
When was CVE-2020-1978 disclosed?
Is CVE-2020-1978 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-1978?
How do I remediate CVE-2020-1978?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2020-1978
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2020-1978?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.