Prisma Access Agent: Anti-Tamper Protection Bypass on Windows
A vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Prisma® Access Agent on Windows enables a local attacker with administrator privileges to bypass the anti-tamper protection, enabling unauthorized access to protected processes and files. The Prisma Access Agent on Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, and Chrome OS is not affected.
- Published
- Aug 12, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 9, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.1% · 1th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-693
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Report tools
Action score
22
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 22 / 40 · 5.6 / 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
- 5.6
- 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:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/AU:N/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 | prisma access agent | cpe:2.3:a:paloaltonetworks:prisma_access_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 prisma access agentbefore 26.3
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 Prisma Access Agent
- Allnot affected
- before 26.3affectedfixed in 26.3
Same product
paloaltonetworks: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2026-0294Prisma Access Agent: Local Privilege Escalation24Monitor
- CVE-2026-0248Prisma Access Agent: Improper Certificate Validation Vulnerability24Monitor
- CVE-2026-0278Prisma Access Agent: Multiple DLP Policy Bypass Vulnerabilities on Windows23Monitor
- CVE-2026-0247Prisma Access Agent Endpoint DLP: Authorization Bypass Vulnerabilities23Monitor
- CVE-2026-0246Prisma Access Agent: Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability23Monitor
- CVE-2026-0277Prisma Access Agent: Improper Certificate Validation on iOS22Monitor
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 Prisma Access Agent | 26.3 | 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.
- Daniel Cuthbert and Vladislav OvitchinikovBanco Santander for discovering and reporting this issue.finder
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
- CVE-2026-027834 days apartPrisma Access Agent: Multiple DLP Policy Bypass Vulnerabilities on Windows23Monitor
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-693 · Protection Mechanism FailureCVSS vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/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:N/R:X/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)
- 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
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; 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 helpChange log
- Fix✗ → ✓
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References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.