CVE-2026-78604

Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource in Elastic Agent Leading to Local Privilege Escalation to SYSTEM

Published: Sep 2, 2026Updated: Sep 4, 2026 Sources: CVE List NVDCWE-732

7.8HIGH

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.

No summary for this CVE yet.

CVSS Vector Breakdown

Exploitability

AV:LAttack Vector

Local

AC:LAttack Complexity

Low

PR:LPrivileges Required

Low

UI:NUser Interaction

None

Scope

S:UScope

Unchanged

Impact

C:HConfidentiality

High

I:HIntegrity

High

A:HAvailability

High

Open in CVSS calculator →

Weaknesses

CWE-732

Affected Products

Elastic

commercial·USaka elastic.co, elasticsearch co.

Elastic Agent

Databases

and 1 more affected products View all →

Exploitability

Official Patch Available

Is your org exposed to CVE-2026-78604?Request an assessment to establish which checks are appropriate for your systems. Check my exposure

Attack Graph

Products CVE Techniques Tactics

Click technique nodes for MITRE ATT&CK details · drag to pan · Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom, or go fullscreen.

MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique

Privilege Escalation

View detailed technique mapping

References

https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elastic-agent-8-19-21-9-4-6-9-5-2-security-update-esa-2026-150/390109

discuss.elastic.co

Unlock Complete Vulnerability Intelligence

Get the full picture for CVE-2026-78604 and every CVE in our database. Create a free account — no credit card required.

Create Free Account

Plain-language analysis

Impact assessment and exploitation scenario in plain English

Attack graph visualization

Interactive attack path and kill chain mapping

Exploit details & PoC links

ExploitDB, Metasploit, GitHub PoCs with direct links

Nuclei scanner templates

Ready-to-use vulnerability scanner templates

Full remediation guide

Patch instructions, workarounds, and compliance impact

Interactive AI chat

Ask questions about this vulnerability in natural language

Related vulnerabilities

Semantically similar CVEs and attack patterns

REST API & MCP access

Integrate vulnerability data into your workflows