CVE-2020-2049 Cortex XDR Agent: Improper control of loaded DLL leads to local privilege escalation
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.
Product Status
| Versions | Affected | Unaffected |
|---|---|---|
| Cortex XDR Agent 7.2 | 7.2.* without content update 150 on Windows | 7.2.* with content update 150 on Windows |
| Cortex XDR Agent 7.1 | 7.1.* without content update 150 on Windows | 7.1.* with content update 150 on Windows |
| Cortex XDR Agent 7.0 | None | 7.0.* with latest content on Windows |
| Cortex XDR Agent 6.1 | None | 6.1.* with latest content on Windows |
Severity: HIGH
CVSSv3.1 Base Score: 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Weakness Type
CWE-427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element
Solution
Cortex XDR Agent content update version 150 and all later content update versions resolve this issue for Cortex XDR Agent 7.1 and Cortex XDR Agent 7.2 versions.
Cortex XDR Agent 6.1 and Cortex XDR Agent 7.0 are not impacted with the latest content update.
Content updates are automatically applied for the agent. A Cortex XDR Agent version upgrade is not required to resolve this issue.
Workarounds and Mitigations
This issue is mitigated by preventing local authenticated Windows users from creating files in the Windows root directory such as C:\.