NVD / CVE Program· CNA palo_alto

CVE-2022-0014: Cortex XDR Agent: Unintended Program Execution When Using Live Terminal Session

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 29/100)

The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.25% (FIRST EPSS).
Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
Fixed version: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent 5.0.12, 6.1.9, 7.2.4.
Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent 5.0.12, 6.1.9, 7.2.4 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

An untrusted search path vulnerability exists in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent that enables a local attacker with file creation privilege in the Windows root directory (such as C:\) to store a program that can then be unintentionally executed by another local user when that user utilizes a Live Terminal session. This issue impacts: Cortex XDR agent 5.0 versions earlier than Cortex XDR agent 5.0.12; Cortex XDR agent 6.1 versions earlier than Cortex XDR agent 6.1.9; Cortex XDR agent 7.2 versions earlier than Cortex XDR agent 7.2.4; Cortex XDR agent 7.3 versions earlier than Cortex XDR agent 7.3.2.

HighCVSS 7.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Local privilege escalation

Published: Jan 12, 2022
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
EPSS: 0.2% · 16th percentile
CWE: CWE-426

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 29 / 40 · 7.3 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 0 / 30 · 0.2%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD: 7.3
CNA · palo_alto: 6.7; 0.6 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
No public exploit code on record
A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Running WordPress? Scan your site free with WP Lens

Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

We use this product, ask for help

Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
paloaltonetworks	cortex xdr agent	cpe:2.3:a:paloaltonetworks:cortex_xdr_agent
microsoft	windows	cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent5.0 and later · before 5.0.12
paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent6.1 and later · before 6.1.9
paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent7.2 and later · before 7.2.4
paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent7.3 and later · before 7.3.2

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (palo_alto). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent
- 7.4.*, 7.5.*, 7.6.*not affected
- 7.2 and later · before 7.2.4affectedfixed in 7.2.4
- 7.3 and later · before 7.3.2affectedfixed in 7.3.2
- 5.0 and later · before 5.0.12affectedfixed in 5.0.12
- 6.1 and later · before 6.1.9affectedfixed in 6.1.9

Same product

paloaltonetworks: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2023-0002Cortex XDR Agent: Product Disruption by Local Windows User
31Monitor
CVE-2022-0015Cortex XDR Agent: An Uncontrolled Search Path Element Leads to Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability
31Monitor
CVE-2021-3042Cortex XDR Agent: Improper Control of User-Controlled File Leads to Local Privilege Escalation
31Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2022-0012Jan 12, 2022 · Cortex XDR Agent: Local Arbitrary File Deletion Vulnerability
28Monitor
← EarlierCVE-2022-0013Jan 12, 2022 · Cortex XDR Agent: File Information Exposure Vulnerability When Generating Support File
22Monitor
Later →CVE-2022-0025May 11, 2022 · Cortex XDR Agent: An Uncontrolled Search Path Element Leads to Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability
26Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent	5.0.12	Vendor (CNA)
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent	6.1.9	Vendor (CNA)
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent	7.2.4	Vendor (CNA)
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent	7.3.2	Vendor (CNA)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Robert McCallumPalo Alto Networks during an internal security review.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).