Bishop Fox ASM Delivers 24-Hour Head Start Against Critical PAN-OS Vulnerability

With the recent disclosure of a vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS (CVE-2024-0012), we demonstrated the critical value of proactive threat detection and customer notification inherent in our Bishop Fox Attack Surface Management (ASM) service. The team leveraged our Cosmos platform to rapidly identify all affected assets and alert customers a full 24 hours before a public exploit was broadly available online, providing essential time for organizations to implement protective measures before opportunistic attackers could take advantage.

Already on alert from unusual firmware update activity in late October, the Bishop Fox Capability Development (CD) and Threat Enablement and Analysis (TEA) teams responded quickly to the Palo Alto Networks advisory on November 8 and collaborated to collect preliminary statistics on customers running PAN-OS devices. By the time of the updated Palo Alto Networks advisory that identified active exploitation in the wild, the team quickly identified customers using PAN-OS devices and those specifically exposing the web management interface. On November 18, Bishop Fox used internally developed automated firmware analysis services to reverse-engineer Palo Alto’s newly released patches. These services enabled the creation of advanced fingerprinting techniques for generating CPE (Common Platform Enumeration) version strings to identify affected devices remotely, without requiring authentication. CD’s rapid work allowed TEA to confirm exposures and notify affected customers well before public exploit details were disclosed on November 19.

Looking Forward and Staying Informed

This case study demonstrates how automated, continuous monitoring combined with expert threat analysis can provide organizations with the advance warning needed to stay ahead of emerging threats. As attack surfaces continue to expand and threats evolve, such proactive capabilities will only become more essential for maintaining robust security postures.

For more information about how Bishop Fox ASM can help protect your organization through proactive threat detection and notification, contact our team today.

Additionally, Bishop Fox will be hosting a brand new series of town halls beginning next week to provide invite-only access to our team of researchers, hear more about what they are seeing, and ask them the questions of most importance to your business. The first session will include discussion of these Palo Alto discoveries and our recent SonicWall firmware deep dive. If you would like to request an invitation to this session, please register here, and keep your eyes peeled for new research and exclusive events.

Timeline: Racing Against Emerging Threats

The incident timeline reveals how Bishop Fox ASM's early warning system gave organizations a crucial advantage:

• T-28 (22 Oct): Bishop Fox's Cosmos team notices unusual firmware update activity and begins closer monitoring of PAN advisories.
• T-11 (8 Nov): PAN publishes initial advisory with limited details.
• T-5 (14 Nov): PAN confirms exploitation in the wild (though no public exploit is yet available).
• T-1 (18 Nov): PAN releases patch. Cosmos team reverse-engineers patch, updates PAN-OS scanner, and notifies customers of vulnerable assets.
• T0 (19 Nov): Public exploit released online; attackers begin opportunistic exploitation.

Most notably, Bishop Fox ASM customers received notifications about their vulnerable assets on November 18—immediately after patch release and a full day before a public exploit was available.

How Cosmos Keeps Bishop Fox and Customers Ahead: Our Automated Pipeline

Our success in early detection stems from a sophisticated automated service pipeline that includes:

1. Regular indexing of firmware image updates
2. On-demand file extraction and analysis
3. Automated fingerprint generation
4. Continuous security scanning

This automated workflow enables continuous monitoring and rapid identification of potential threats, allowing us to notify customers before public exploit releases.

Impact: Proactive Defense in Action

The 24-hour advance notice provided by Bishop Fox ASM proved invaluable for organizations running PAN-OS. This critical window allowed security teams to:

• Assess their exposure
• Prioritize vulnerable assets
• Deploy patches
• Implement compensating controls
• Coordinate response efforts

This incident exemplifies why proactive attack surface management has become essential in today's threat landscape. As the time between vulnerability disclosure and active exploitation continues to shrink, the ability to identify and respond to threats before they're actively exploited becomes increasingly crucial.

Looking Forward and Staying Informed

This case study demonstrates how automated, continuous monitoring combined with expert threat analysis can provide organizations with the advance warning needed to stay ahead of emerging threats. As attack surfaces continue to expand and threats evolve, such proactive capabilities will only become more essential for maintaining robust security postures.

For more information about how Bishop Fox ASM can help protect your organization through proactive threat detection and notification, contact our team today.

Additionally, Bishop Fox will be hosting a brand new series of town halls beginning this week to provide invite-only access to our team of researchers, hear more about what they are seeing, and ask them the questions of most importance to your business. The first session will include discussion of these Palo Alto discoveries and our recent SonicWall firmware deep dive. If you would like to request an invitation to this session, register here, and keep your eyes peeled for new research and exclusive events.