SOC status:Duty analyst on shift

UK Cyber Defence
VulnerabilityModified

CVE-2021-3041

A local privilege escalation 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.

HIGH 7.8EPSS 0.25%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.25%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

A local privilege escalation 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. This requires the user to have the privilege to create files in the Windows root directory or to manipulate key registry values. This issue impacts: Cortex XDR agent 5.0 versions earlier than Cortex XDR agent 5.0.11; Cortex XDR agent 6.1 versions earlier than Cortex XDR agent 6.1.8; Cortex XDR agent 7.2 versions earlier than Cortex XDR agent 7.2.3; All versions of Cortex XDR agent 7.2 without content update release 171 or a later version.

CVSS 3.1
7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
0.25% probability · 16th percentile
CISA KEV
Not listed
Weakness
CWE-427
Affected
paloaltonetworks/cortex xdr agent
Source
psirt@paloaltonetworks.com

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.