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Cortex Xdr AgentApplication · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2022-0026

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 (PE) vulnerability exists in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent software on Windows that enables an authenticated local user with file creation privilege in the Windows root directory (such as C:\) to execute a program with elevated privileges. This issue impacts all versions of Cortex XDR agent without content update 330 or a later content update version.

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

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows allows an authenticated local user with file creation privileges in C:\ to execute code with elevated SYSTEM privileges. The vulnerability stems from improper privilege handling in the agent and affects all versions without content update 330.

MitigationApply content update 330 or later to Cortex XDR agent to remediate this vulnerability.

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:= 6.1= 6.1.4= 6.1.5= 6.1.6= 6.1.7= 6.1.8= 6.1.9= 7.4.1= 7.4.2= 7.4.3= 7.4.4= 7.5

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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. Verify Cortex XDR agent installation
    Check Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Palo Alto Networks\Cortex XDR\Agent or look for the installation directory at C:\Program Files\Palo Alto Networks\Cortex
    Affected if If the agent is not present, the system is not affected by this vulnerability
  2. Determine installed agent version
    Query the Windows Registry value at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Palo Alto Networks\Cortex XDR\Agent\Version or right-click the executable in the installation folder and view Properties > Details
    Affected if If the version is 6.1, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 6.1.6, 6.1.7, 6.1.8, 6.1.9, 7.4.1, 7.4.2, 7.4.3, 7.4.4, or 7.5, the agent is in the affected version range
  3. Check content update version
    Open the Cortex XDR agent console and navigate to the content/update version information, or query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Palo Alto Networks\Cortex XDR\Agent\ContentVersion in the registry
    Affected if If content update version is missing or is a number lower than 330, the vulnerability is present and exploitable
  4. Assess user privileges
    Verify if any authenticated local users have file creation privileges in the root C:\ drive by checking NTFS permissions on C:\ or using icacls C:\
    Affected if If local users have file creation rights on C:\, the privilege escalation condition for exploitation is satisfied

A system is affected if Cortex XDR agent is installed with a version in the affected list and the content update version is below 330, combined with local users having file creation access to C:\.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply content update 330 or later to Cortex XDR agent to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Apply content update 330 or later (this is a content/policy update, not a version upgrade)

  1. Open the Cortex XDR management console or console interface
  2. Navigate to the content update or agent policy settings
  3. Verify the current content update version installed on affected Windows agents
  4. Apply content update 330 or a later content update version to all affected Cortex XDR agents
  5. Verify that the content update was successfully applied to each affected agent
  6. Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by checking that the content version is 330 or higher
Caveat Content updates are typically non-disruptive and do not require agent restart; however, test in a staging environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Cortex Xdr Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,440
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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-2022-0026 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
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