Vulnerability Snapshot
CVE-2019-17440 is rated CRITICAL — exploitation is trivial or already observed in the wild and impact is severe. Patch immediately, not on the next maintenance window.
Affected technology: pan-os, pa-7050, pa-7080.
Executive Summary
Improper restriction of communications to Log Forwarding Card (LFC) on PA-7000 Series devices with second-generation Switch Management Card (SMC) may allow an attacker with network access to the LFC to gain root access to PAN-OS. This issue affects PAN-OS 9.0 versions prior to 9.0.5-h3 on PA-7080 and PA-7050 devices with an LFC installed and configured. This issue does not affect PA-7000 Series deployments using the first-generation SMC and the Log Processing Card (LPC). This issue does not affect any other PA series devices. This issue does not affect devices without an LFC. This issue does not affect PAN-OS 8.1 or prior releases. This issue only affected a very limited number of customers and we undertook individual outreach to help them upgrade. At the time of publication, all identified customers have upgraded SW or content and are not impacted.
Why It Matters
CVE-2019-17440 is rated CRITICAL severity, requiring immediate attention from security teams.
CVSS Base Score: 10/10
Affected Technologies
Vendors: paloaltonetworks
Products: pan-os, pa-7050, pa-7080
🛡️What Defenders Should Check
Use Vulnios to continuously monitor your exposure to CVE-2019-17440 and similar vulnerabilities.
References & Sources
How Vulnios Detects This
Vulnios scans for this vulnerability using Trivy and Grype for SBOM-based CVE matching and Vulnios CVE feed continuous monitoring against your asset inventory. Run a scan against your environment to see whether you are exposed; findings are linked back to the original CVE record so triage starts with the patch path already known.
AI Security Advisor
Powered by Gemini
Get AI-powered security recommendations tailored to this specific threat — including risk assessment, detection guidance, MITRE ATT&CK mapping, and actionable remediation steps.
Affected Products
Sources
Related Threat Alerts
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2025-0107 — paloaltonetworks — expedition
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2026-45177 — paloaltonetworks — idira_secrets_manager_edge
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2021-3064 — paloaltonetworks — pan-os
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2021-3044 — paloaltonetworks — cortex_xsoar
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2021-3033 — paloaltonetworks — prisma_cloud
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2020-2040 — paloaltonetworks — pan-os
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2019-17440?
CVE-2019-17440 is a critical-severity vulnerability tracked under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program. Improper restriction of communications to Log Forwarding Card (LFC) on PA-7000 Series devices with second-generation Switch Management Card (SMC) may allow an attacker with network access to the LFC t
Am I affected?
Check whether your environment runs pan-os, pa-7050, pa-7080. If you operate any of those, treat yourself as in scope until you have evidence otherwise. A Vulnios scan will identify the exact assets carrying the affected version.
How urgent is the response?
Critical: do not wait for your normal patch cycle. Verify exposure today, apply the vendor patch immediately, and add detection rules for any post-exploit indicators.
How do I remediate?
Apply the vendor patch listed in the upstream advisory linked under Sources. If the patch is not yet available, follow the vendor-supplied workaround (often a config flag or feature disable) and add detections for the published exploit pattern in your SIEM. Re-scan after the patch lands to confirm the finding clears.
Where can I track exploitation activity?
Watch CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for CVE-2019-17440. Cross-reference with public exploit databases and your own SIEM/IDS for indicator-of-compromise patterns. Vulnios tracks KEV status automatically and surfaces it on the asset findings view.
How does Vulnios help with this?
Vulnios continuously cross-references your asset inventory against the live CVE feed (NVD, vendor advisories, CISA KEV, and curated OSINT). When a new CVE matches your environment, you get a prioritized finding with the severity, KEV status, exploit-prediction (EPSS), and a direct path to the vendor patch. You can start a free scan from the homepage.
Protect Your Organization
Monitor CVEs, scan for vulnerabilities, and get real-time threat alerts — all in one platform.
Weekly threat digest
KEV-listed exploits and vendor advisories, every Monday.
One email a week. Unsubscribe any time.
Get instant alerts on Telegram
Join our public channel for real-time critical CVE alerts.
Follow @vulnios