title: Cortex XDR Agent: Cleartext Exposure of Agent Admin Password
description: An information exposure vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows devices allows a local system administrator to disclose the admin password for the agent in cleartext, which bad actors can then use to execute privileged cytool commands that disable or uninstall the agent.
problem types: CWE-319 Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
affected:
{
defaultStatus: unaffected
platforms: Windows
product: Cortex XDR agent
vendor: Palo Alto Networks
versions:
status: unaffected, version: 7.9 All
status: unaffected, version: 7.8 All
changes: [at: 7.5.101-CE, status: unaffected], lessThan: 7.5.101-CE, status: affected, version: 7.5, versionType: custom
status: unaffected, version: 5.0 All
}
metrics:
cvssV3_1: [
attackComplexity: LOW
attackVector: LOCAL
availabilityImpact: HIGH
baseScore: 6
baseSeverity: MEDIUM
confidentialityImpact: HIGH
integrityImpact: NONE
privilegesRequired: HIGH
scope: UNCHANGED
userInteraction: NONE
vectorString: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
version: 3.1
]
format: CVSS
scenarios: GENERAL
solutions: This issue is fixed in Cortex XDR agent 7.5.101-CE and all later supported Cortex XDR agent versions. (Cortex XDR agent 5.0 is not impacted.)
After you upgrade to a fixed version of the Cortex XDR agent, you must change the agent admin password in case it was already disclosed to users.
workarounds: There are no known workarounds for this issue.