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 the Cortex XDR agent when upgrading to Cortex XDR agent 7.7.0 on Windows; Cortex XDR agent 7.7.0 without content update 500 or a later version on Windows. This issue does not impact other platforms or other versions of the Cortex XDR agent.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.7, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from paloaltonetworks, from microsoft organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2022, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2022-05-11T17:15:09.227
2024-11-21T06:37:50.693
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 6.7 (MEDIUM)
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
3.9
10.0
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | paloaltonetworks | cortex_xdr_agent | < 7.7.1.62043 | Yes |
| Operating System | microsoft | windows | - | No |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For paloaltonetworks's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.