Detect Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Out-of-bounds Write (CVE-2026-0300) in CrowdStrike LogScale
Detects exploitation attempts targeting CVE-2026-0300, an out-of-bounds write vulnerability (CWE-787) in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS. This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) and may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, crash the device, or escalate privileges on affected PAN-OS appliances. Detection focuses on anomalous management plane activity, unexpected process crashes, memory corruption indicators, and suspicious inbound traffic patterns targeting PAN-OS management interfaces.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Initial Access Execution Impact
LogScale Detection Query
#repo=base_activity #kind=ProcessRollup2
| $cve = "CVE-2026-0300"
| $target_processes = ["sslmgrd", "pan_gp", "configd", "authd", "pan_comm", "routed", "sysd"]
| filter(
ProductType = "Firewall" OR
(event_simpleName = "ProcessRollup2" AND FileName IN $target_processes) OR
(event_simpleName = "NetworkConnectIP4" AND LocalPort IN [443, 4443, 8443] AND Direction = "1") OR
(event_simpleName = "CriticalEnvironmentVariableChanged") OR
CommandLine CONTAINS "CVE-2026-0300"
)
| select timestamp, ComputerName, UserName, FileName, CommandLine, LocalAddressIP4, RemoteAddressIP4, LocalPort, RemotePort, ExitCode, event_simpleName
| join type=left
[
#repo=base_activity #kind=ProcessRollup2
| filter event_simpleName = "ProcessRollup2" AND ExitCode != 0 AND FileName IN $target_processes
| select ComputerName, FileName, ExitCode, timestamp AS crash_time
]
on ComputerName
| where isnotnull(crash_time)
| sort timestamp desc
| limit 500CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale (CQL) detection for CVE-2026-0300. Correlates process crash events for known PAN-OS management daemons with inbound management port connections, surfacing devices where exploitation may have triggered memory corruption and process failure.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- CrowdStrike sensor deployed on PAN-OS VM host capturing unrelated process activity from co-located workloads
- PAN-OS scheduled tasks or content updates triggering brief non-zero exit codes during daemon restarts
- Authorized security tooling performing API calls that match management port inbound connection filters
- Lab or staging PAN-OS appliances with aggressive update schedules generating frequent process lifecycle events
Other platforms for CVE-2026-0300
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 1Simulate malformed HTTPS payload to PAN-OS management interface
Expected signal: PAN-OS threat logs should record an anomalous inbound connection; syslog may show a connection handling error or rate limit trigger on the management interface.
- Test 2Trigger PAN-OS management daemon crash simulation via process kill
Expected signal: PAN-OS system logs will record a process crash event for sslmgrd with signal 11 (SIGSEGV); watchdog restart will generate a subsequent SYSTEM log entry. Syslog forwarding will push these to the SIEM.
- Test 3Enumerate PAN-OS management interface exposure and version fingerprinting
Expected signal: PAN-OS management logs will record the inbound HTTPS requests from the test source IP. If threat prevention is enabled, reconnaissance-pattern requests may trigger a threat log entry.
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Get the full detection package for CVE-2026-0300 including response playbook, investigation guide, and atomic red team tests.