CVE-2025-49156
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 link following vulnerability in the Trend Micro Apex One scan engine could allow a local attacker to escalation privileges on affected installations. 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 · moderate confidenceThis is a link following (symlink) vulnerability in the Trend Micro Apex One scan engine. An attacker with the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system can exploit this flaw to follow symbolic links created in protected directories, leading to privilege escalation to SYSTEM or administrator level access.
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< 14.0.14492>= 14.0.0.12994, < 14.0.0.14002CVSS 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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Check installed Apex One versionOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\TrendMicro\Apex One\CurrentVersion, or check the About section in the Apex One console. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\TrendMicro\Apex One\CurrentVersion | Select-Object version' in PowerShell.Affected if The installed version falls within < 14.0.14492, or >= 14.0.0.12994 and < 14.0.0.14002.
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Verify Apex One scan engine is activeConfirm the Apex One Security Agent or scan engine service (e.g., TmCCSF, Trend Micro Universal Communication, or corresponding service) is running on the system. Check Services.msc or run 'Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*Trend*"}'Affected if The scan engine service is installed and running on the target system.
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Identify scan engine protected directoriesCheck for protected directories under the Apex One installation path (commonly C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Trend Micro\). Look for subdirectories such as Apex One\Scan Engine, OfficeScan\Pattern, or similar folders used by the scan engine.Affected if Protected scan engine directories exist on the system.
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Check for unauthorized symbolic linksUse Command Prompt or PowerShell to enumerate symbolic links in scan engine directories: 'Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro" -Recurse -Force | Where-Object {$_.LinkType -eq "SymbolicLink"}'. Also check NTFS junctions with 'Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro" -Recurse -Force | Where-Object {$_.LinkType -eq "Junction"}'.Affected if Unexpected symbolic links or junctions exist within Trend Micro scan engine directories.
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable version of Trend Micro Apex One (version < 14.0.14492 or between 14.0.0.12994 and 14.0.0.14001) with the scan engine installed, and an attacker can create symbolic links in scan engine directories to escalate privileges.
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 · scoped14.0.0.1400214.0.14492
Apply the vendor patch when available. Prior to patch, restrict local user permissions and monitor for suspicious symbolic link creation in scan engine directories. Ensure least-privilege principles for service accounts.
Apex One version 14.0.14492 or later
- 1. Verify current Apex One version by navigating to Help > About in the management console or checking the product icon tooltip
- 2. Download the latest Apex One version 14.0.14492 or later from the Trend Micro Download Center at success.trendmicro.com
- 3. Create a full backup of the Apex One database and configuration settings
- 4. Schedule a maintenance window as the upgrade requires service restart
- 5. Run the Apex One installer with administrator privileges on the server
- 6. Follow the on-screen upgrade wizard instructions, accepting the license agreement
- 7. Allow the upgrade to complete and verify all services restart successfully
- 8. Confirm the new version by checking Help > About - should show version 14.0.14492 or higher
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-2025-49156 — 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-2025-49156 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
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