CVE-2017-5565
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedCode injection vulnerability in Trend Micro Maximum Security 11.0 (and earlier), Internet Security 11.0 (and earlier), and Antivirus+ Security 11.0 (and earlier) allows a local attacker to bypass a self-protection mechanism, inject arbitrary code, and take full control of any Trend Micro process via a "DoubleAgent" attack. One perspective on this issue is that (1) these products do not use the Protected Processes feature, and therefore an attacker can enter an arbitrary Application Verifier Provider DLL under Image File Execution Options in the registry; (2) the self-protection mechanism is intended to block all local processes (regardless of privileges) from modifying Image File Execution Options for these products; and (3) this mechanism can be bypassed by an attacker who temporarily renames Image File Execution Options during the attack.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA local attacker can inject arbitrary code into Trend Micro security processes by exploiting Image File Execution Options (IFEO) registry keys. The vulnerability exists because these products lack Microsoft's Protected Processes feature, allowing an attacker to register a malicious DLL as an Application Verifier Provider. The self-protection mechanism that blocks IFEO modifications can be bypassed by temporarily renaming the registry key during the attack window.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 11.1.1005<= 11.1.1005<= 11.1.1005<= 11.1.1005CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Trend Micro product versionOpen Programs and Features or run 'wmic product get name,version' to list installed Trend Micro security products. Check the version column against the installed product name.Affected if The installed version is Trend Micro Antivirus+, Internet Security, Maximum Security, or Premium Security with version 11.1.1005 or lower.
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Inspect IFEO registry keys for suspicious entriesOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options, or run 'reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options' to list all subkeys.Affected if Any IFEO subkey contains a Debugger value pointing to an unexpected or malicious DLL path, or entries exist for Trend Micro security process names (e.g., tmccc, tmteng, ntrtscan) that point to unfamiliar DLLs.
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Check for Application Verifier Provider modificationsRun 'reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\<processname> /v Debugger' for each Trend Micro process, or inspect the ApplicationVerifiers registry path under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion.Affected if A debugger or Application Verifier Provider DLL is registered for any Trend Micro security process that was not set by the vendor.
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Verify presence of Protected Processes supportInspect the Trend Micro product documentation, or check if security processes run with PsProtectedSignerWinTcb level by running 'tasklist /V' and examining process trust levels, or use Sysinternals Process Explorer to check the Protection column for processes like ntrtscan.exe, tmccsf.exe, or tmteng.exe.Affected if Trend Micro security processes do not show as running under Protected Process status (e.g., not showing Microsoft Signed or Windows TCB signer in Process Explorer).
A system is affected if a vulnerable Trend Micro product version 11.1.1005 or lower is installed AND suspicious IFEO registry entries or unauthorized Application Verifier Providers are present for Trend Micro security processes, indicating the self-protection mechanism has been bypassed.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataThis vulnerability requires a vendor-side fix through implementation of Microsoft's Protected Processes feature. Organizations should apply vendor patches when available, implement application whitelisting policies, and monitor for suspicious modifications to IFEO registry keys as a compensating control.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation40.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-5565 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-5565 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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