Cortex XDR Agent: Product Disruption by Local Windows User
A problem with a protection mechanism in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows devices allows a local user to execute privileged cytool commands that disable or uninstall the agent.
- Published
- Feb 8, 2023
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.3% · 20th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-693
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Report tools
Action score
31
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.3%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 7.8
- CNA · palo_alto
- 5.5
- 2.3 point gap
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
| 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 5.0.12.22203
- paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent7.5 and later · up to 7.5.101 inclusive
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 Allnot affected
- 7.5 and later · before 7.5.101-CEaffectedfixed in 7.5.101-CE
- 5.0 and later · before 5.0.12.22203affectedfixed in 5.0.12.22203
Same product
paloaltonetworks: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2022-0015Cortex XDR Agent: An Uncontrolled Search Path Element Leads to Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability31Monitor
- CVE-2021-3042Cortex XDR Agent: Improper Control of User-Controlled File Leads to Local Privilege Escalation31Monitor
- CVE-2021-3041Cortex XDR Agent: Improper control of user-controlled file leads to local privilege escalation31Monitor
- CVE-2020-2049Cortex XDR Agent: Improper control of loaded DLL leads to local privilege escalation31Monitor
- CVE-2022-0014Cortex XDR Agent: Unintended Program Execution When Using Live Terminal Session29Monitor
- CVE-2022-0012Cortex XDR Agent: Local Arbitrary File Deletion Vulnerability28Monitor
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 | 5.0.12.22203 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent | 7.5.101-CE | 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.
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 researchersFinders, 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.
- TR-23-0070 · Feb 9, 2023(Palo Alto Güvenlik Bildirimi)
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-693 · Protection Mechanism FailureCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
- Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLsCAPEC-1likelihood: High · High
- Cross Site TracingCAPEC-107likelihood: Medium · Very High
- Directory IndexingCAPEC-127likelihood: High · Medium
- Using Malicious FilesCAPEC-17likelihood: High · Very High
- Encryption Brute ForcingCAPEC-20likelihood: Low · Low
- Exploiting Trust in ClientCAPEC-22likelihood: High · High
- Escaping a Sandbox by Calling Code in Another LanguageCAPEC-237likelihood: Low · Very High
- Using Unpublished Interfaces or FunctionalityCAPEC-36likelihood: Medium · High
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.