CVE-2026-78604: CWE-732 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource in Elastic Elastic Agent
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.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.8high
Affected software
Elastic
Elastic Agent
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability (CWE-732) in Elastic Agent arises from incorrect permission assignment for critical resources on Windows installations performed in unprivileged mode. The overly permissive access controls on resources used by the agent service permit a local user to replace binaries that the service executes. Exploiting this flaw can lead to local privilege escalation, granting SYSTEM-level access. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 7.8, reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. No official patch or remediation level has been provided yet, and no known exploits are reported in the wild. Affected versions explicitly include 8.0.0, 9.0.0, and 9.5.0.
Potential Impact
A local attacker with limited privileges on a Windows system where Elastic Agent is installed in unprivileged mode can exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to SYSTEM level. This results in full control over the affected host, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system and data.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is released, avoid installing Elastic Agent in unprivileged mode on Windows systems or restrict local user access to the host to trusted administrators only.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- elastic
- Date Reserved
- 2026-08-24T21:13:52.889Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6a98384bacd9273b495d16fd
Added to database: 09/02/2026, 14:52:59 UTC
Last enriched: 09/07/2026, 13:22:57 UTC
Last updated: 10/17/2026, 18:48:22 UTC
Views: 102
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