Detect Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Authentication Bypass (CVE-2026-0257) in Elastic Security
Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2026-0257, an authentication bypass vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS caused by improper reliance on cookies for security decisions (CWE-565). An attacker can manipulate session cookies to bypass authentication controls on PAN-OS management interfaces or VPN endpoints. This vulnerability is confirmed exploited in the wild (CISA KEV).
MITRE ATT&CK
Elastic Detection Query
sequence by source.ip with maxspan=10m
[network where event.dataset == "panw.panos" and
(http.request.uri.path : ("/php/login.php", "/api/*type=keygen*", "/global-protect*", "/ssl-vpn*") or
event.action : ("auth-bypass", "session-invalid", "cookie-forged", "invalid-cookie") or
panw.panos.sub_type : ("auth", "system") and panw.panos.description : ("*cookie*", "*bypass*", "*invalid*")) and
event.outcome == "failure"
] with runs=3EQL sequence rule detecting three or more authentication failures or suspicious cookie-related events from the same source IP against PAN-OS endpoints within a 10-minute window.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Roaming VPN users generating repeated auth failures due to network transitions
- Automated scripts performing repeated API authentication for legitimate integrations
- Expired certificates on PAN-OS API clients causing authentication loops
- Vulnerability scanners performing authenticated checks against PAN-OS
Other platforms for CVE-2026-0257
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1PAN-OS Cookie Bypass Authentication Simulation
Expected signal: PAN-OS auth logs should show repeated authentication failure events with unusual cookie headers; HTTP access logs should capture the source IP, URI, and malformed cookie values; network monitoring should detect the rapid sequential requests to multiple PAN-OS endpoints.
- Test 2PAN-OS Management Interface Enumeration
Expected signal: Network logs should capture sequential HTTP GET/POST requests to multiple PAN-OS management URIs from single source; firewall logs should record the connection attempts and response codes; IDS/IPS should flag the rapid enumeration pattern.
- Test 3Session Token Forgery Attempt Against PAN-OS
Expected signal: PAN-OS authentication daemon logs should show multiple failed auth attempts with varying PHPSESSID values and non-standard headers (X-PAN-AUTHCHECK); SIEM should capture the pattern of sequential attempts with different cookie values from single source IP.
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