CVE-2022-0025: Cortex XDR Agent: An Uncontrolled Search Path Element Leads to Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.7 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2022-05-11 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-427

Description

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.

Affected products

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent: from 7.7.0 before 7.7.1.62043 — fixed in 7.7.1.62043
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent: from 7.7 before 7.7.1.62043 without CU-500 — fixed in 7.7.1.62043 without CU-500, 7.7.1.62043

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent 7.7.1.62043; Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent 7.7.1.62043 without CU-500, 7.7.1.62043. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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