CVE-2023-3280

Local agent disablement via undisclosed protection flaw

Published Sep 13, 2023 · Updated Sep 25, 2024

Improper exceptional-condition handling in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent for Windows allows local users to disable the agent. The published record identifies only an unspecified protection mechanism that mishandles an exceptional condition; no affected file, function, input, or triggering operation is disclosed. Low-privileged local access is required, and successful exploitation stops endpoint protection without reported confidentiality or integrity impact.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.32%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper exceptional-condition handling in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Agent for Windows allows local users to disable the agent. The published record identifies only an unspecified protection mechanism that mishandles an exceptional condition; no affected file, function, input, or triggering operation is disclosed. Low-privileged local access is required, and successful exploitation stops endpoint protection without reported confidentiality or integrity impact.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-3280
Published
Sep 13, 2023
Updated
Sep 25, 2024
Vendor
Palo Alto Networks
Product
Cortex XDR Agent
Classifications
CWE-755, T1685
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 13, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 25, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.0
  2. Affected versionversion=7.5-CE
  3. Affected versionversion=7.9 <7.9.3 changes=[{"at":"7.9.3","status":"unaffected"}]
  4. Affected versionversion=7.9-CE <7.9.101-CE changes=[{"at":"7.9.101-CE","status":"unaffected"}]
  5. Affected versionversion=8.0 <8.0.2 changes=[{"at":"8.0.2","status":"unaffected"}]

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Palo Alto Networks · Cortex XDR Agentversion=5.0; version=7.5-CE; version=7.9 <7.9.3 changes=[{"at":"7.9.3","status":"unaffected"}]; version=7.9-CE <7.9.101-CE changes=[{"at":"7.9.101-CE","status":"unaffected"}]; version=8.0 <8.0.2 changes=[{"at":"8.0.2","status":"unaffected"}]

Published CVSS scores

5.5Palo Alto NetworksCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-755Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions
T1685Disable or Modify Tools

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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