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Cortex Xdr AgentApplication · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2020-2049

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.2.2 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent on the Windows platform that allows an authenticated local Windows user to execute programs with SYSTEM privileges. This requires the user to have the privilege to create files in the Windows root directory. This issue impacts: All versions of Cortex XDR Agent 7.1 with content update 149 and earlier versions; All versions of Cortex XDR Agent 7.2 with content update 149 and earlier versions.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A local privilege escalation vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent for Windows allows an authenticated local user with file creation privileges in the Windows root directory to execute programs with SYSTEM privileges. This is a classic Windows service/binary manipulation vulnerability where the authenticated user can place a malicious executable in a location where it will be executed with elevated privileges.

MitigationUpdate Cortex XDR Agent to a version with content update 150 or later, and remove or restrict file creation permissions in the Windows root directory for non-privileged users.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Cortex Xdr AgentApplication
Affected:>= 7.1.1, <= 7.1.3>= 7.2.1, <= 7.2.2= 7.1= 7.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Cortex XDR Agent version
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\PaloAltoNetworks\Cortex\XDR\InstallSettings, or run 'cytool.exe version' from the Cortex XDR program directory if available
    Affected if The installed version falls within 7.1.x (7.1 through 7.1.3) or 7.2.x (7.2 through 7.2.2)
  2. Verify Cortex XDR service runs as SYSTEM
    Open Services console (services.msc), locate the Cortex XDR service, right-click and select Properties, check the 'Log on as' account
    Affected if The service is configured to run under the SYSTEM or LocalSystem account
  3. Check file creation permissions on Windows root directory
    Open Command Prompt as administrator and run 'icacls C:\' to view ACLs, or use PowerShell: Get-Acl C:\ | Format-List
    Affected if Non-privileged users or groups (such as Users or Authenticated Users) have FILE_ADD_FILE or FILE_ADD_SUBDIRECTORY permissions granted on C:\
  4. Identify if low-privileged user accounts exist on the system
    Run 'net user' to list local users, or check if the current user is a standard non-admin user
    Affected if An authenticated local user with limited privileges can log into the system

A user is affected if Cortex XDR Agent version 7.1.x through 7.2.2 is installed, the service runs as SYSTEM, and non-privileged users have file creation permissions in the Windows root directory (C:\), allowing placement of a malicious executable for privilege escalation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 7.2.2
Interim mitigation

Update Cortex XDR Agent to a version with content update 150 or later, and remove or restrict file creation permissions in the Windows root directory for non-privileged users.

Fix this in Cortex Xdr Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-2049 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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