CVE-2020-2049

Cortex XDR Agent: Improper control of loaded DLL leads to local privilege escalation

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: December 9, 2020 at 06:00 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:11 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorCortex XDR Agent· also runs on 1 platform

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.* with latest content (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.0.* with latest content (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.* with content update 150 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2.* with content update 150 (unaffected)
microsoft-windows (environment)

Runs on — not affected

The affected product only carries this flaw when running on these platforms. The platforms themselves are not vulnerable.

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (1)

CVSS

7.8HIGHpalo_alto
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-427

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