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Apex OneApplication · Trendmicro

CVE-2022-36336

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A link following vulnerability in the scanning function of Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security agents could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges on affected installations. The resolution for this issue has been deployed automatically via ActiveUpdate to customers in an updated Spyware pattern. Customers who are up-to-date on detection patterns are not required to take any additional steps to mitigate this issue.

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

This is a link following (symlink) vulnerability in the scanning function of Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security agents. A local attacker could exploit this to escalate privileges by manipulating symbolic links during the scanning process, potentially redirecting file operations to privileged locations.

MitigationEnsure Trend Micro detection patterns are up-to-date via ActiveUpdate; the fix was automatically deployed as an updated Spyware pattern. No additional manual remediation is required for customers with current detection patterns.

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:all versions= 2019
Worry Free Business SecurityApplication
Affected:= 10.0
Worry Free Business Security ServicesApplication
Affected:all versions

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm Trend Micro product installation
    Check for installed Trend Micro Apex One or Worry-Free Business Security agents by reviewing installed programs or checking the product service status in Windows Services (look for 'Trend Micro' services)
    Affected if Neither Apex One nor Worry-Free Business Security is installed on the system
  2. Identify installed product version
    For Apex One, check the version via the agent UI or registry key (HKLM\SOFTWARE\TrendMicro\Apex One). For Worry-Free Business Security, check via the agent UI or registry key (HKLM\SOFTWARE\TrendMicro\Worry-Free Business Security\Version
    Affected if The product is Apex One any version, Apex One 2019, or Worry-Free Business Security 10.0, or Worry-Free Business Security Services any version
  3. Verify real-time scanning is enabled
    Check if the file scanning feature is active. In Apex One, go to Settings > Scan Exclusions or check the service 'Trend Micro Apex One NT Proxy Service'. In Worry-Free Business Security, verify 'Real-time Scan' is enabled in the security settings
    Affected if Real-time or on-demand scanning is disabled, the vulnerability is not exploitable
  4. Check Spyware pattern version via ActiveUpdate
    Open the Trend Micro console or check the pattern version through the agent interface (usually displayed as 'Spyware Pattern' or 'Pattern Version'). Compare against the version that includes the CVE-2022-36336 fix
    Affected if The Spyware pattern version is outdated and does not include the CVE-2022-36336 fix, meaning the product remains vulnerable

A system is affected if it has Apex One (any version or 2019) or Worry-Free Business Security (10.0) or Worry-Free Business Security Services (any version) installed with real-time scanning enabled, and the Spyware pattern has not been updated to include the fix.

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

Ensure Trend Micro detection patterns are up-to-date via ActiveUpdate; the fix was automatically deployed as an updated Spyware pattern. No additional manual remediation is required for customers with current detection patterns.

Fix this in Apex One Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2022-36336 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