CVE-2026-0276

Root privilege escalation for local authenticated users

Published Jul 9, 2026 · Updated Jul 9, 2026

Improper privilege management in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Broker VM 20.0.96 through 31.0.57 allows local users to act as root. Palo Alto Networks has not published the vulnerable component or the operation that mishandles local privileges. No special configuration is required; a locally authenticated account can perform root-level actions on the Broker VM.

CVSS severity4.8
Medium
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper privilege management in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Broker VM 20.0.96 through 31.0.57 allows local users to act as root. Palo Alto Networks has not published the vulnerable component or the operation that mishandles local privileges. No special configuration is required; a locally authenticated account can perform root-level actions on the Broker VM.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-0276
Published
Jul 9, 2026
Updated
Jul 9, 2026
Vendor
Palo Alto Networks
Product
Cortex XDR Broker VM
Classifications
CWE-269, CAPEC-233, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 9, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=20.0.96 <31.0.58 changes=[{"at":"31.0.58","status":"unaffected"}]

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Palo Alto Networks · Cortex XDR Broker VMversion=20.0.96 <31.0.58 changes=[{"at":"31.0.58","status":"unaffected"}]

Published CVSS scores

4.8Palo Alto NetworksCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
1.1Palo Alto NetworksCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U

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-269Improper Privilege Management
CAPEC-233Privilege Escalation
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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