Cortex XDR Agent: Local Administrator can disable the agent on Windows
A problem with a protection mechanism in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows allows a local Windows administrator to disable the agent. This issue may be leveraged by malware to perform malicious activity without detection.
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 help- Published
- Apr 13, 2026
- Updated
- Jul 7, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.1% · 3th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-15
Sign in to follow · You’ll be notified if a followed record enters KEV, gets an exploit or is updated.
Report tools
Action score
16
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 16 / 40 · 4.0 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.1%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · palo_alto
- 4.0
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/AU:Y/R:U/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Affected 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 agent8.7.0 and later · before 8.7.101
- paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent7.9
- paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent8.3
- paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent8.9.0
- paloaltonetworks cortex xdr agent9.0.0
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
- 9.0, 8.9, 8.7-CEnot affected
- 9.1.0 and later · before 5.10.14not affectedfixed in 5.10.14
- 9.0 and later · before 9.0.1affectedfixed in 9.0.1
- 8.9 and later · before 8.9.1affectedfixed in 8.9.1
- 8.7-CE and later · before 8.7.101-CEaffectedfixed in 8.7.101-CE
- 8.3-CE and later · before 8.3-CE-CU-2120affectedfixed in 8.3-CE
- 7.9-CE and later · before 7.9-CE-CU-2120affectedfixed in 7.9-CE
Same product
paloaltonetworks: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2023-0002Cortex XDR Agent: Product Disruption by Local Windows User31Monitor
- 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
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 | 7.9-CE | Vendor (CNA) |
| Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent | 8.3-CE | Vendor (CNA) |
| Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent | 8.7.101-CE | Vendor (CNA) |
| Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent | 8.9.1 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent | 9.0.1 | 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.
- WhatThe0xDoinfinder
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).
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
- Integrity
- Availability
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- X
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-15 · External Control of System or Configuration SettingCVSS vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:Y/R:U/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber
nvd-secondary
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)
- Subverting Environment Variable ValuesCAPEC-13likelihood: High · Very High
- XML Schema PoisoningCAPEC-146likelihood: Low · High
- Configuration/Environment ManipulationCAPEC-176Medium
- Manipulate Registry InformationCAPEC-203Medium
- Modification of Registry Run KeysCAPEC-270likelihood: Medium · Medium
- Schema PoisoningCAPEC-271likelihood: Low · High
- Replace Winlogon Helper DLLCAPEC-579
- Target Programs with Elevated PrivilegesCAPEC-69likelihood: High · Very High
ATT&CK techniques
- Modify RegistryT1112
- Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Start FolderT1547.001
- Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Winlogon helper DLLT1547.004
- Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: ActiveT1547.014
- Impair Defenses:Impair Command History LoggingT1562.003
- Hijack Execution Flow:Dynamic Linker HijackingT1574.006
- Hijack Execution Flow:Path Interception by PATH Environment VariableT1574.007
- Plist ModificationT1647
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.