Vulnerability · Published Apr 13, 2026 · Assigned by palo_alto
CVE-2026-0232Cortex XDR Agent: Local Administrator can disable the agent on Windows
Medium 4.0
In plain English
A medium-severity security flaw in Cortex XDR Agent from Palo Alto Networks. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.1% (higher than 4% of all known vulnerabilities).
Severity (CVSS 4.0)4.0Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.1%top 96.2% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known
Official description
A problem with a protection mechanism in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows allows a local Windows administrator to disable the agent. This issue may be leveraged by malware to perform malicious activity without detection.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks | Cortex XDR Agent | see references |
| Palo Alto Networks | Cortex XDR Agent | 9.0 – before 9.0.18.9 – before 8.9.18.7-CE – before 8.7.101-CE8.3-CE – before 8.3-CE-CU-21207.9-CE – before 7.9-CE-CU-2120 |
Weakness: CWE-15 · Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/AU:Y/R:U/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber
References
- https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2026-0232 vendor-advisory