Qilin and INC Ransomware Groups Exploit Palo Alto Networks Flaw to Bypass MFA

Palo Alto Networks has disclosed that it’s continuing to observe exploitation of a now-patched security flaw impacting  PAN-OS and Prisma Access by ransomware actors.

The activity relates to CVE-2026-0257 (CVSS score: 7.8), an authentication bypass flaw that could be exploited by bad actors to set up unauthorized VPN connections. It was patched by Palo Alto Networks in May 2026 and was