Cortex Xdr Broker VmApplication · Paloaltonetworks
CVE-2026-0276
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 · uneditedA privilege escalation vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Cortex® XDR Broker VM enables a locally authenticated user to perform actions as the root user.
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 · moderate confidenceA privilege escalation vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Broker VM allows a locally authenticated user to execute actions with root-level privileges due to improper privilege management in the broker VM component.
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 Broker VmApplication
>= 20.0.96, < 31.0.58CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Cortex XDR Broker VM is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep -i cortex' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i cortex' or check for /opt/paloalto/cortex-xdr directoryAffected if The system is running Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Broker VM software
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Check installed Broker VM versionRun 'dpkg -l | grep -i broker' or 'rpm -qa | grep broker' or check /opt/paloalto/cortex-xdr/etc/version fileAffected if The installed version falls within >= 20.0.96 and < 31.0.58
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Identify local authenticated users on the systemCheck /etc/passwd for local user accounts and verify which users have shell access via 'getent passwd | grep /bin/bash'Affected if Local authenticated users exist on the Broker VM (this is the precondition for the vulnerability)
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Verify privilege assignment for broker VM service accountsCheck /etc/sudoers and run 'id <broker-service-user>' to see if non-root users have elevated privilegesAffected if Service or broker VM users have improper sudo permissions that could allow privilege escalation
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Audit recent privilege escalation attemptsReview /var/log/auth.log or 'journalctl -u sudo' for failed sudo attempts from local usersAffected if There are signs of failed or successful privilege escalation activity by local users
The environment is affected if Cortex XDR Broker VM is installed with version 20.0.96 through 31.0.57 and local authenticated user accounts exist on the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped31.0.58
Apply the vendor-supplied patch for CVE-2026-0276 when released; until then, limit local access to trusted administrators and monitor for suspicious local privilege escalation activity.
31.0.58 or later
- 1. Back up the current Cortex XDR Broker VM configuration and data before initiating the upgrade
- 2. Download the fixed release (version 31.0.58 or later) from the Palo Alto Networks Customer Support Portal
- 3. Review the release notes for version 31.0.58 to understand any specific upgrade requirements or注意事项
- 4. Follow the official Palo Alto Networks upgrade procedure for Cortex XDR Broker VM to install version 31.0.58 or later
- 5. After upgrade completion, verify the system is functioning correctly and the version matches the fixed release
- 6. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by checking that the privilege escalation vector no longer exists
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Cortex Xdr Broker Vm
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-0276 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-0276 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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