Amazon CloudWatch Agent for Windows has Privilege Escalation Vector

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

7.1 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L

EPSS

• CVE-2022-23511: 0.52% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 44.46 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact A privilege escalation issue exists within the Amazon CloudWatch Agent for Windows in versions up to and including v1.247354. When users trigger a repair of the Agent, a pop-up window opens with SYSTEM permissions. Users with administrative access to affected hosts may use this to create a new command prompt as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. To trigger this issue, the third party must be able to access the affected host and elevate their privileges such that they’re able to trigger the agent repair process. They must also be able to install the tools required to trigger the issue. This issue does not affect the CloudWatch Agent for macOS or Linux. Patches Maintainers recommend that Agent users upgrade to the latest available version of the CloudWatch Agent to address this issue. Workarounds There is no recommended work around. Affected users must update the installed version of the CloudWatch Agent to address this issue. References…

Published by the source

12 Dec 2022, 14:38 UTC

Last modified by the source

3 Apr 2023, 19:24 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:58 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-j8x2-2m5w-j939

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-23511

Advisory: Amazon CloudWatch Agent for Windows has Privilege Escalation Vector
IDs: CVE-2022-23511, GHSA-j8x2-2m5w-j939
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-23511 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:58 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent 1.247355.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent: affected < 1.247355.0; fixed in 1.247355.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-j8x2-2m5w-j939 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-j8x2-2m5w-j939 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent >=0 <1.247355.0)

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