Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
OfficescanApplication · Trendmicro

CVE-2019-18187

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-10-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Trend Micro OfficeScan versions 11.0 and XG (12.0) could be exploited by an attacker utilizing a directory traversal vulnerability to extract files from an arbitrary zip file to a specific folder on the OfficeScan server, which could potentially lead to remote code execution (RCE). The remote process execution is bound to a web service account, which depending on the web platform used may have restricted permissions. An attempted attack requires user authentication.

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 confidence

A directory traversal vulnerability in Trend Micro OfficeScan versions 11.0 and XG (12.0) allows authenticated attackers to extract files from arbitrary zip archives to specific folders on the server, potentially achieving remote code execution though constrained by the web service account permissions.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for OfficeScan 11.0 and XG (12.0); if patches are unavailable, restrict administrative access to the management interface and minimize network exposure to prevent authenticated exploitation.

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
OfficescanApplication
Affected:= 11.0= xg

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify OfficeScan version
    Access the OfficeScan management console or check the product itself to determine the exact version number. Look for version 11.0 or XG (also labeled as version 12.0).
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 11.0 or XG (12.0)
  2. Verify authenticated access exists
    Confirm that valid credentials exist for the OfficeScan web management console. The vulnerability requires an authenticated attacker to exploit the zip extraction functionality.
    Affected if Valid administrator or operator credentials can be used to log into the OfficeScan web console
  3. Locate zip upload functionality
    In the OfficeScan management console, navigate to sections that handle file uploads, archives, or pattern updates where zip file extraction may occur. Look for features that accept and extract zip files.
    Affected if The zip file extraction feature is accessible via the web interface
  4. Inspect web service account
    Check the account context under which the OfficeScan web service runs. This is typically found in Windows Services or the server's service configuration.
    Affected if The web service runs with elevated privileges that could allow file writes outside the intended directory
  5. Monitor for suspicious file creation
    Review server filesystem for any files created outside the expected OfficeScan directories, particularly in system directories or web root locations. Look for unexpected .exe, .dll, or script files.
    Affected if Files exist in locations outside the normal OfficeScan installation directory, especially with path traversal patterns (e.g., ../../)

A user is affected if their OfficeScan installation is version 11.0 or XG (12.0) and the zip file extraction feature is accessible to authenticated users, allowing potential path traversal file writes.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches for OfficeScan 11.0 and XG (12.0); if patches are unavailable, restrict administrative access to the management interface and minimize network exposure to prevent authenticated exploitation.

Fix this in Officescan Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-18187 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-18187 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data