Apex CentralApplication · Trendmicro

CVE-2023-38627

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A post-authenticated server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex Central 2019 (lower than build 6481) could allow an attacker to interact with internal or local services directly. Please note: an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. This is a similar, but not identical vulnerability as CVE-2023-38626.

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 post-authenticated server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex Central 2019 (builds lower than 6481). An authenticated attacker with low-privileged access can abuse the application to make the server perform requests to internal or local services, potentially bypassing network boundaries. The CVSS 5.4 reflects the authenticated nature and network-attack vector.

MitigationUpgrade Trend Micro Apex Central 2019 to build 6481 or later to patch this vulnerability. Since this is a post-authenticated issue, also review and limit user account privileges to the minimum required.

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 CentralApplication
Affected:= 2019

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 Central 2019 is installed
    Check for the Apex Central web console by accessing the server hostname or IP on the typical web port (typically 443 or 8443), or look for the installation directory under C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Apex Central on Windows servers
    Affected if The product is not found or the web interface is not accessible (cannot proceed with version check)
  2. Identify the installed build number
    Log into the Apex Central web console and navigate to Help > About, or check the build information in the installation directory (look for version.txt or similar release notes file)
    Affected if Unable to determine the build number from the web interface or installation files
  3. Compare build number against vulnerable range
    Verify if the identified build number is lower than 6481. The vulnerable range includes all builds of Apex Central 2019 with build numbers below 6481
    Affected if The installed build is 6481 or higher - the vulnerability is patched in this version and above

Your environment is affected if Trend Micro Apex Central 2019 is installed and the build number is lower than 6481, since the post-authenticated SSRF vulnerability exists in those versions.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Trend Micro Apex Central 2019 to build 6481 or later to patch this vulnerability. Since this is a post-authenticated issue, also review and limit user account privileges to the minimum required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Trend Micro Apex Central 2019 build 6481 or higher

  1. 1. Check the current build version of Trend Micro Apex Central 2019 by accessing the Apex Central console and navigating to Administration > System Settings > Product Information
  2. 2. If the build version is lower than 6481, download the updated version from the Trend Micro Download Center or contact Trend Micro support
  3. 3. Apply the upgrade to build 6481 or higher following the standard Apex Central upgrade procedure
  4. 4. After upgrading, verify the new build version in the Product Information section to confirm the patch was applied successfully

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Apex Central 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
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38627 — 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-2023-38627 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