What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-1976?

CVE-2020-1976 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (Medium). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.3%.

Globalprotect CVE-2020-1976

MEDIUM

External Control of Critical State Data (CWE-642)

2020-02-12 psirt@paloaltonetworks.com

Denial Of Service Paloalto Globalprotect Paloaltonetworks

5.5

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-642 OWASP Top 10:2025 A06:2025 - Insecure Design ASVS 5.0 V14 - Data Protection Critical state data protection
Impact	CVSS score of 5.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	Successful exploitation could compromise the medium-severity affected system.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).

No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect software running on Mac OS allows authenticated local users to cause the Mac OS kernel to hang or crash.0.5 and earlier. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-642. A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect software running on Mac OS allows authenticated local users to cause the Mac OS kernel to hang or crash.0.5 and earlier versions of GlobalProtect 5.0 on Mac OS. Affected products include: Paloaltonetworks Globalprotect.

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM

AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

DescriptionNVD

A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect software running on Mac OS allows authenticated local users to cause the Mac OS kernel to hang or crash. This issue affects GlobalProtect 5.0.5 and earlier versions of GlobalProtect 5.0 on Mac OS.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

0.3%

Top 80% exploitable

Data Quality

2 sources

Confidence: Low

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity MEDIUM

CISA KEV No

Public POC No

EPSS 0.3%

Patch available No

Active threat No

Deciding rule

MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Defer

Exploitation· derived

None

System Exposure· derived

Small

Automatable· derived

Human Impact· derived

Medium

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: 0

CVSS: +28

PoC: 0

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service MEDIUM

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:paloaltonetworks:globalprotect:*:*:*:*:*:macos:*:*

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References

Advisories & patches

ADVISORY https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-1976

Search Externally

GitHub PoC

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