dbcve.org
Apex OneApplication · Trendmicro

CVE-2025-71217

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-21
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
An origin validation error vulnerability in the Trend Micro Apex One (mac) agent self-protection mechanism could allow a local attacker to escalate 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. The following information is provided as informational only for CVE references, as these were addressed already via ActiveUpdate/SaaS updates in mid to late 2025 (SaaS 2507 & 2005 Yearly Release).

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

An origin validation error in the self-protection mechanism of the Trend Micro Apex One mac agent allows a local attacker with initial low-privileged code execution to bypass security checks and escalate to higher system privileges.

MitigationDeploy the security update via ActiveUpdate or SaaS updates (versions 2507 or 2005 Yearly Release) to patch the vulnerable self-protection mechanism.

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

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 Apex One for macOS is installed
    Run 'ls /Applications' or check for 'Apex One' application folder, or use 'system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType' to list installed applications
    Affected if The Apex One agent for macOS is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed Apex One version
    Check the application's Info.plist or version info - typically found in /Applications/Apex One/Contents/Info.plist, or run the agent's version command if available in /Library/Application Support/Trend Micro/Apex One/
    Affected if Unable to determine the version, or version is present but below 2507 or 2005 Yearly Release
  3. Verify the self-protection feature status
    Inspect the Apex One agent configuration or policy settings - the self-protection mechanism is typically controlled via the agent's preferences or config files in /Library/Application Support/Trend Micro/Apex One/
    Affected if Self-protection is enabled and the version is prior to the fixed releases
  4. Compare version against fixed releases
    Compare the installed version number to the patched releases (version 2507 or 2005 Yearly Release). If the installed version cannot be determined or is older than these releases, the system is likely vulnerable.
    Affected if Installed version is older than 2507 or 2005 Yearly Release, or version cannot be determined

If Apex One for macOS is installed with self-protection enabled and the version is below 2507 or 2005 Yearly Release, the environment is affected by this origin validation vulnerability.

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

Deploy the security update via ActiveUpdate or SaaS updates (versions 2507 or 2005 Yearly Release) to patch the vulnerable self-protection mechanism.

Recommended fix High confidence

SaaS 2507 or 2005 Yearly Release (or later)

  1. 1. Ensure Apex One agent is configured to receive updates from Trend Micro ActiveUpdate servers
  2. 2. Initiate an update check/pull the latest security content via ActiveUpdate or console deployment
  3. 3. Verify the agent has updated to version SaaS 2507 or the 2005 Yearly Release (or later) which contains the CVE-2025-71217 fix
  4. 4. Confirm the self-protection mechanism now properly validates origin for privileged operations

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

Fix this in Apex One 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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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-2025-71217 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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