GlobalProtect App: Insufficiently Protected Credentials Vulnerability on Linux

An insufficiently protected credentials vulnerability exists in the Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect app on Linux that exposes the hashed credentials of GlobalProtect users that saved their password during previous GlobalProtect app sessions to other local users on the system.

The exposed credentials enable a local attacker to authenticate to the GlobalProtect portal or gateway as the target user without knowing of the target user’s plaintext password.

Work around:
Users should not save their credentials until the GlobalProtect app is upgraded to a fixed version.

GlobalProtect portal administrators can prevent GlobalProtect app users from saving their credentials on the next connection to the GlobalProtect portal by preventing ‘Save User Credentials’ from the portal agent configuration as described here:

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/globalprotect/10-1/globalprotect-admin/globalprotect-apps/deploy-app-settings-transparently/customizable-app-settings/user-behavior-options.html