CVE-2026-2123
Microfocus Operations Agent 12.22 – 12.29
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-2123 is a high-severity Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges (CWE-280) vulnerability in Microfocus Operations Agent. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).
Operationally, ranked at the 1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-2123 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Operations Agent versions 12.29 and earlier on Windows. A security audit identified that under specific conditions, the Operations Agent may execute binaries from certain writable locations, enabling unauthorized elevation of privileges. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and maps to CWE-280: Improper Handling of Insufficient Privileges or Ownership Validation. It was reported by Manuel Rickli and Philippe Leiser of Oneconsult AG.
A local attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability with low attack complexity and no user interaction. Exploitation involves leveraging the agent's behavior to run executables from writable directories, potentially achieving high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability through privilege escalation.
The vendor advisory, available at https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000046068, details mitigation steps and patches for addressing the vulnerability in affected Operations Agent installations.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-17534
Vulnerability Data
A security audit identified a privilege escalation vulnerability in Operations Agent(<=OA 12.29) on Windows. Under specific conditions Operations Agent may run executables from specific writeable locations.Thanks to Manuel Rickli & Philippe Leiser of Oneconsult AG for reporting this vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V6.2.2V8.3.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Ensuring access decisions are applied to every request structurally prevents the product from taking unexpected paths when privileges are lacking.
A reference monitor that is always invoked guarantees privilege checks occur, eliminating the root condition for improper insufficient-privilege handling.
Access enforcement directly stops code from proceeding on insufficient privileges by applying authorization checks before resource access.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Defining, enforcing and reviewing access permissions with least privilege directly prevents code paths that mishandle insufficient privileges.
Runtime monitoring of software and data surfaces adverse events triggered by unhandled permission failures.
Generating logs of permission-related events enables detection and analysis of improper handling.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect missing or incorrect privilege handling.
Defines access-control policy that should prevent insufficient-privilege situations.
Specifies how access rights are granted, reviewed and revoked, directly addressing privilege handling.
Requires explicit management of privileged access rights, reducing the chance of missing privilege checks.
Secure-SDLC practices include privilege checks during design and coding.
Secure-coding standards require proper permission checks before resource access.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248548 OL 8 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
- V-248596 OL 8 must enable the SELinux targeted policy. prevents CWE-280
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
RHEL 9 (2 rules)
- V-258078 RHEL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
- V-272496 RHEL 9 must elevate the SELinux context when an administrator calls the sudo command. prevents CWE-280