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Antivirus\+ Security 2020Application · Trendmicro

CVE-2021-25251

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
The Trend Micro Security 2020 and 2021 families of consumer products are vulnerable to a code injection vulnerability which could allow an attacker to disable the program's password protection and disable protection. An attacker must already have administrator privileges on the machine 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 confidence

This is a code injection vulnerability in Trend Micro Security 2020 and 2021 consumer product families. An attacker with existing administrator-level privileges on the targeted machine can exploit this flaw to inject malicious code that disables the security product's password protection mechanism and overall protection features, effectively neutralizing the security software.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security patches or updates from Trend Micro for the affected product versions. Since the vulnerability requires administrator privileges, ensure strict access controls, monitor for privilege escalation attempts, and follow the principle of least privilege.

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
Antivirus\+ Security 2020Application
Affected:= 16.0
Antivirus\+ Security 2021Application
Affected:= 17.0
Internet Security 2020Application
Affected:= 16.0
Internet Security 2021Application
Affected:= 17.0
Maximum Security 2020Application
Affected:= 16.0
Maximum Security 2021Application
Affected:= 17.0
Premium Security 2020Application
Affected:= 16.0
Premium Security 2021Application
Affected:= 17.0

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Trend Micro security product
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to list installed software and look for Trend Micro consumer security products (Antivirus+ Security, Internet Security, Maximum Security, or Premium Security)
    Affected if Any Trend Micro consumer security product from version 16.0 or 17.0 is installed
  2. Verify the exact product version
    In the Programs and Features list or PowerShell output, confirm the displayed version matches 16.0 (2020 products) or 17.0 (2021 products) exactly
    Affected if Version equals 16.0 or 17.0 specifically, as only these exact versions are affected
  3. Check if password protection feature is enabled
    Open the Trend Micro main console, navigate to Settings or Preferences, and look for Password Protection or Parental Controls settings. The vulnerability exploits the password protection mechanism, so this feature must be present and enabled for the attack to apply
    Affected if Password protection is enabled in the Trend Micro security product settings
  4. Verify security product processes are running normally
    Open Task Manager or run 'Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.Company -like "*Trend*"}' in PowerShell to list Trend Micro processes. Look for core processes such as TmCCSF, TmPfw, or the main security product service
    Affected if The security product is actively running with its core protection processes active, which provides the attack surface for code injection

You are affected if a Trend Micro consumer security product (Antivirus+ Security, Internet Security, Maximum Security, or Premium Security) version 16.0 or 17.0 is installed with password protection enabled and the product is actively running.

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-supplied security patches or updates from Trend Micro for the affected product versions. Since the vulnerability requires administrator privileges, ensure strict access controls, monitor for privilege escalation attempts, and follow the principle of least privilege.

Fix this in Antivirus\+ Security 2020 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-25251 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