CVE-2021-3042

Cortex XDR Agent: Improper Control of User-Controlled File Leads to Local Privilege Escalation

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: July 15, 2021 at 04:45 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 04:04 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 0.2%

Description

A local privilege escalation (PE) vulnerability exists in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows platforms that enables an authenticated local Windows user to execute programs with SYSTEM privileges. Exploiting this vulnerability requires the user to have file creation privilege in the Windows root directory (such as C:\). This issue impacts: All versions of Cortex XDR agent 6.1 without content update 181 or a later version; All versions of Cortex XDR agent 7.2 without content update 181 or a later version; All versions of Cortex XDR agent 7.3 without content update 181 or a later version. Cortex XDR agent 5.0 versions are not impacted by this issue. Content updates are required to resolve this issue and are automatically applied for the agent.

Affected

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

Vendor states this is fixed in 5.0 all (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.* with content update 181 or later (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2.* with content update 181 or later (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3.* with content update 181 or later (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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