Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks Improve from Caution to Recommended Ratings Following Retesting

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CyberRatings.org (CyberRatings), the non-profit organization dedicated to providing confidence in cybersecurity products and services through independent testing, today announced Follow-On Test Results for the Fortinet FortiGate-200G and Palo Alto Networks PA-1410 Enterprise Firewalls.

Customers should request the updated firewalls from Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks immediately to ensure protection.

Both products have improved their ratings from Caution to Recommended following submissions to NSS Labs to retest after developing new builds to address their earlier evasion resistance deficiencies published on November 5, 2025.

"Both Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks responded quickly and transparently to our original findings, issuing updates within days and requesting immediate retesting," said Vikram Phatak, CEO of NSS Labs. "The speed at which these vendors addressed and resolved critical issues shows their commitment to their customers' security."

Fortinet Follow-On Results

During the initial test of Fortinet's v7.6.4 build3596 with IPS v7.01154 (33.00064), NSS Labs was able to bypass protection using Layer 4 TCP evasions. Fortinet responded quickly to develop an updated IPS signature package. After retesting, NSS Labs confirmed that the update addressed all exploit evasion resistance deficiencies.

Exploit evasion resistance increased from 60% to 100%, elevating the overall Security Effectiveness from 79.24% to 99.24%. Organizations running IPS version v7.01154 (33.00064) or earlier should upgrade immediately to v7.01165 (33.00064) to ensure protection against evasion techniques as detailed in the November 5 publication.

Palo Alto Networks Follow-On Results

During the initial test of PAN-OS 11.2.8-c537, NSS Labs was able to bypass protection using Layer 3 IP and Layer 4 TCP evasions. Palo Alto Networks responded quickly to develop an updated PAN-OS firmware package (PAN-OS 11.2.10-c37) to ensure that the problem had been fixed. After retesting, NSS Labs confirmed that the updated firmware addressed all exploit evasion resistance deficiencies, providing substantial improvements in protection.

Exploit evasion resistance increased dramatically from 0% to 100%, elevating the overall Security Effectiveness from 46.37% to 96.07%.

NSS Labs notes that it is not unusual for vendors to submit pre-release software or firmware intended for imminent release, which NSS Labs requires to be scheduled for general availability within 90 days following a test. Palo Alto Networks confirmed that PAN-OS version 11.2.10-c37 was provided as a pre-release and will be designated as PAN-OS 11.2.10 upon reaching general availability.

Organizations running PAN-OS 11.2.8-c537 or earlier should immediately request PAN-OS 11.2.10 to ensure protection against evasion techniques as detailed in the November 5 publication.

Context and Vendor Accountability

These follow-on results reaffirm the importance of independent testing and vendor accountability. Both vendors' prompt response demonstrates how transparency and rapid engineering benefit customers.

To accompany these follow-on reports, NSS Labs published a blog titled When Firewalls Fail Gracefully: Why Vendor Responsiveness Matters as Much as Security Effectiveness, highlighting the importance of transparency and quick remediation in cybersecurity engineering.

Testing Methodology

The follow-on tests were conducted using the same methodology and datasets employed in the original Q4 2025 Enterprise Firewall Comparative Report, which evaluated seven leading products under real-world conditions. The updated results now place Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks in the Recommended category alongside Check Point, Juniper Networks, and Versa Networks.

Tests were conducted by NSS Labs developed technologies and Keysight's CyPerf tool to evaluate security, performance, TLS functionality, and stability. The updated test reports are available at no cost on the CyberRatings.org website.

About CyberRatings.org

CyberRatings.org is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization dedicated to providing confidence in cybersecurity products and services through our research and testing programs. We provide enterprises with independent, objective ratings of security product efficacy to make informed decisions. To gain access to free reports, visit www.cyberratings.org and follow us on LinkedIn.

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