CVE-2020-24563
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One may allow a local attacker to manipulate the process of the security agent unload option (if configured), which then could be manipulated to gain a privilege escalation and code execution. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target in order to exploit this vulnerability.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One's security agent. The flaw allows a local attacker who already has low-privileged code execution to manipulate the security agent unload process, escalating privileges and achieving code execution with elevated rights.
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= 2019= saasCVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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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Verify Apex One agent is installedCheck the system for the presence of Trend Micro Apex One security agent - look for the service named 'Apex One' or 'TmListen' in Windows services, or check Program Files for Trend Micro Apex One directoriesAffected if The Apex One security agent is not found on the system, then this CVE does not apply
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Identify installed Apex One versionLocate the Apex One version information - typically found in the agent's about dialog, registry key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\TrendMicro\Apex One, or in the installer log filesAffected if The installed version matches '2019' or is noted as 'SaaS' version - these are the affected versions per the CVE
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Confirm security agent is activeVerify the Apex One security agent service is running - check if the 'Apex One' or 'TmListen' service is in a running state, or query via command: sc query TmListenAffected if The agent service is actively running - only running agents can be exploited via the unload process manipulation described in this CVE
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Check agent unload capabilityInspect whether the agent allows remote or programmatic unload - this may be visible in the agent's policy settings, registry configuration under the Apex One agent keys, or through access control lists on the agent executableAffected if Non-admin users have the ability to trigger or manipulate the agent unload process - this configuration enables the privilege escalation pathway described in the CVE
Your environment is affected if Apex One version 2019 or SaaS is installed, the security agent is running, and low-privileged users can manipulate the agent unload process to escalate to SYSTEM-level privileges.
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 dataRestrict local access to trusted users only, monitor for suspicious agent unload activity, and apply the vendor patch for CVE-2020-24563. Ensure proper file system permissions on the Apex One agent components.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-24563 — 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-2020-24563 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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