CVE-2023-25146
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 security agent link following vulnerability in the Trend Micro Apex One agent could allow a local attacker to quarantine a file, delete the original folder and replace with a junction to an arbitrary location, ultimately leading to an arbitrary file dropped to an arbitrary location. Please note: an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system 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 · high confidenceThis is a junction point/link following vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One's file quarantine mechanism. A low-privileged attacker with local code execution can trigger the agent to quarantine a file, then delete the original folder and replace it with a junction point pointing to an arbitrary location. When the security agent processes the quarantined file, it follows the junction and writes files to attacker-controlled locations, achieving arbitrary file write capability.
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< 14.0.11960= 2019CVSS 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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Confirm Apex One agent installationCheck for the Apex One agent service (commonly 'Apex One NT Service' or 'TmListen') in Windows Services, or look for the installation directory under C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Apex One\Affected if The service or installation directory is not found, meaning Apex One is not present
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Identify installed Apex One versionCheck the version by viewing the 'Version' field in the Apex One agent properties, or check the version file in the installation directory (often in the About or version info file)Affected if The installed version is lower than 14.0.11960 or is version 2019 (exact version match)
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Verify file quarantine feature statusAccess the Apex One console or policy settings and check if 'File Quarantine' or 'Quarantine' feature is enabled in the scan settingsAffected if File quarantine is enabled - the vulnerability requires this feature to be active
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Inspect quarantine directories for junction pointsLocate the quarantine folder (typically in the Apex One data or agent directory, often under 'SUSPECT' or 'Quarantine' subfolder) and run 'dir /AL /S' or use 'reparsepoint' checks to list any junction points within the quarantine directory treeAffected if Any junction points exist within the quarantine directory structure that point to locations outside the expected quarantine path
You are affected if Apex One is installed with a version below 14.0.11960 (or exactly version 2019), file quarantine is enabled, and junction points are present in quarantine directories pointing to unexpected locations.
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.
dbcve · scoped14.0.11960
Apply the vendor patch from Trend Micro when available. In the interim, restrict local user permissions to prevent folder deletion/junction creation in quarantine directories, and monitor for suspicious junction point creation in agent-related folders.
Apex One 14.0.11960 or later
- Upgrade Apex One agent to version 14.0.11960 or later
- Verify the upgrade by checking the agent version in the Apex One console
- Ensure the upgrade is applied to all affected endpoints
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-25146 — 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-2023-25146 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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