CVE-2020-27695
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 · uneditedTrend Micro Security 2020 (Consumer) contains a vulnerability in the installer package that could be exploited by placing a malicious DLL in a local directory which can lead to obtaining administrative privileges during the installation of the product.
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 DLL hijacking vulnerability exists in the Trend Micro Security 2020 consumer installer. The installer uses insecure DLL loading that allows a local attacker to place a malicious DLL in a directory from which the installer runs, causing it to be loaded with elevated (SYSTEM) privileges during installation.
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<= 16.0<= 16.0<= 16.0<= 16.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 Security productOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to list installed programs and their versions.Affected if A Trend Micro Security 2020 product is listed with version 16.0 or lower.
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Check registry for product versionQuery the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\TrendMicro\ or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\TrendMicro\ for the installed product version using regedit or 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell.Affected if The registry shows a version <= 16.0 for Antivirus+, Internet Security, Maximum Security, or Premium Security 2020.
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Verify product installation folder versionNavigate to the Trend Micro installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\) and locate version information in product-specific subfolders or version.ini files.Affected if The folder contains version information indicating 16.0 or earlier.
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Confirm product editionReview the installed product name to confirm it matches one of the affected editions: Antivirus+ Security 2020, Internet Security 2020, Maximum Security 2020, or Premium Security 2020.Affected if Any of these four product editions are installed at version <= 16.0.
A user is affected if any of these Trend Micro 2020 consumer security products are installed with version 16.0 or lower, as the installer contained the DLL hijacking vulnerability.
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 dataUsers should only download installers from official Trend Micro sources and ensure they are running the latest patched version. Organizations can implement application whitelisting and verify installer integrity (hash/checksum) before execution as compensating controls.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27695 — 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-2020-27695 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data