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CVE-2026-78604

HIGHCVSS 7.8/10EPSS 0.10%

Last modified

CVE-2026-78604 is a high-severity vulnerability rated 7.8/10 on the CVSS scale. Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource (CWE-732) in Elastic Agent can lead to local privilege escalation via Replace Binaries (CAPEC-642). On Windows systems where Elastic Agent is installed in unprivileged mode, resources used by the agent service are created with access controls broader than required. EPSS estimates a 0.10% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource (CWE-732) in Elastic Agent can lead to local privilege escalation via Replace Binaries (CAPEC-642). On Windows systems where Elastic Agent is installed in unprivileged mode, resources used by the agent service are created with access controls broader than required. A local user could take advantage of this to cause the service to execute code of their choosing, ultimately obtaining SYSTEM-level privileges on the host.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
7.8/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Probability
0.10%

1.0th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

VendorProductVersions
ElasticElastic Agent>= 8.0.0, < 8.19.21
ElasticElastic Agent>= 9.0.0, < 9.4.6
ElasticElastic Agent>= 9.5.0, < 9.5.2

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-78604?
Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource (CWE-732) in Elastic Agent can lead to local privilege escalation via Replace Binaries (CAPEC-642). On Windows systems where Elastic Agent is installed in unprivileged mode, resources used by the agent service are created with access controls broader than required. A local user could take advantage of this to cause the service to execute code of their choosing, ultimately obtaining SYSTEM-level privileges on the host.
How severe is CVE-2026-78604?
CVE-2026-78604 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.10% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-78604?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST