Apex OneApplication · Trendmicro

CVE-2020-25771

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-09-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An out-of-bounds read information disclosure vulnerabilities in Trend Micro Apex One may allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information to an unprivileged account on vulnerable installations of the product. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target in order to exploit these vulnerabilities. The subs affected in this vulnerability makes it unique compared to similar CVEs such as CVE-2020-24564 and CVE-2020-25770.

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 confidence

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One allows a local attacker who has obtained low-privileged code execution capability to read sensitive information that should be restricted to privileged accounts. The vulnerability affects specific subsystems making it distinct from related CVEs.

MitigationApply the vendor-released security patch for Trend Micro Apex One. Since exploitation requires local code execution, restrict local access to trusted users and follow least-privilege principles to limit exposure.

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
Apex OneApplication
Affected:= 2019= saas

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Confirm Trend Micro Apex One installation
    Check for Apex One installation by searching for the product in installed programs (Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features) or by checking for the installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Trend Micro\)
    Affected if Trend Micro Apex One is installed and the version matches 2019 or saas builds
  2. Identify installed Apex One version
    Open Apex One console and navigate to Settings > Product Information, or check the installation log files in the Apex One program directory for version strings
    Affected if The version is listed as 2019 (any build) or identified as the SaaS version
  3. Verify the vulnerable subsystem is active
    Check Apex One services running under the Trend Micro umbrella - the vulnerability affects specific subsystems within the main Apex One process. Review running processes (taskmgr.exe) for Apex One-related executables (e.g., TmListen.exe, Ntrtscan.exe, TmPcc.cfg)
    Affected if Multiple Apex One services and processes are actively running, indicating the vulnerable components are loaded
  4. Review security logs for suspicious read attempts
    Examine Apex One event logs (Windows Event Viewer > Application and Security logs) for out-of-bounds memory access warnings or privilege escalation indicators around the Apex One service account activity
    Affected if Event logs show memory access violations or unexpected privileged information access attempts originating from Apex One processes
  5. Check for low-privilege user access to sensitive directories
    Use icacls.exe to review permissions on Apex One installation folders and configuration directories - verify that non-admin users have limited read access to sensitive configuration and log files
    Affected if Low-privileged users have read access to protected Apex One configuration files, log directories, or memory dump locations that should be restricted

A user is affected if Trend Micro Apex One version 2019 or SaaS is installed with the vulnerable subsystem active, allowing a low-privileged local attacker to read restricted information through the out-of-bounds read flaw.

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 the vendor-released security patch for Trend Micro Apex One. Since exploitation requires local code execution, restrict local access to trusted users and follow least-privilege principles to limit exposure.

Fix this in Apex One Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25771 — 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-2020-25771 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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