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NVD / CVE Program· CNA palo_alto

CVE-2023-0001: Cortex XDR Agent: Cleartext Exposure of Agent Admin Password

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

  • 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: 0.21% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. Administrator privileges are required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent 7.5.101-CE.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent 7.5.101-CE 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 information exposure vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows devices allows a local system administrator to disclose the admin password for the agent in cleartext, which bad actors can then use to execute privileged cytool commands that disable or uninstall the agent.

MediumCVSS 6.7 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Feb 8, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 11th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.7 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
6.7
CNA · palo_alto
6.0
0.7 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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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.

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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.

VendorProduct
paloaltonetworkscortex xdr agent
microsoftwindows

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Affected versions

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

  • paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent7.5 and later · before 7.5.101

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

    • 7.9 All, 7.8 All, 5.0 Allnot affected
    • 7.5 and later · before 7.5.101-CEaffectedfixed in 7.5.101-CE

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-2022-0026May 11, 2022 · Cortex XDR Agent: Unintended Program Execution Leads to Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability
    26Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-0029Sep 14, 2022 · Cortex XDR Agent: Improper Link Resolution Vulnerability When Generating a Tech Support File
    22Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2023-3280Sep 13, 2023 · Cortex XDR Agent: Local Windows User Can Disable the Agent
    22Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

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

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent7.5.101-CEVendor (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.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

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.

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).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • Administrator privileges are required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-319 · Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records