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Executive Summary
Date: January 2025
Trend Micro has recently disclosed several critical vulnerabilities in its Apex One and Apex One as a Service products. These vulnerabilities, which have been actively exploited, pose significant threats to organizations relying on these endpoint security solutions. The primary risk associated with these vulnerabilities is privilege escalation, which can lead to unauthorized access and potential data breaches. The vulnerabilities have been observed in the wild, with attackers potentially leveraging social engineering or insider threats to gain initial access.
Technical Information
The vulnerabilities in question include CVE-2023-41179, an arbitrary code execution vulnerability that affects the ability of the Apex One SaaS, Biz, and VBBSS agents to uninstall third-party security products. Exploitation of this vulnerability requires prior access to the management console authentication credentials. Additional vulnerabilities, such as CVE-2024-52048, CVE-2024-52049, CVE-2024-52050, CVE-2024-55631, CVE-2024-55632, and CVE-2024-55917, primarily allow for local privilege escalation. These vulnerabilities can be exploited by attackers to gain elevated privileges on the affected systems, potentially leading to unauthorized access and data exfiltration.
The vulnerabilities require local access to exploit, suggesting that attackers may be using social engineering tactics or exploiting insider threats to gain initial access. Once access is obtained, attackers can leverage these vulnerabilities to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code, potentially leading to a full compromise of the affected systems.
Exploitation in the Wild
The vulnerabilities have been actively exploited in the wild, although specific details about the attacks have not been disclosed by Trend Micro. The Japan CERT has issued an alert, emphasizing the urgency of updating affected systems to the latest version to mitigate the risk. The vulnerabilities require local access to exploit, which suggests that attackers may be leveraging social engineering or insider threats to gain initial access.
APT Groups using this vulnerability
While specific Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups exploiting these vulnerabilities have not been publicly identified, the nature of the vulnerabilities suggests that they could be of interest to APT groups targeting sectors with high-value data. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government should be particularly vigilant, as these sectors are often targeted by APT groups seeking to exploit vulnerabilities for espionage or financial gain.
Affected Product Versions
The affected product versions include Apex One versions before Build 13140 on Windows (English) and Apex One as a Service versions before 202412 (Agent Version: 14.0.14203) on Windows (English). Organizations using these versions are at risk and should prioritize updating to the latest versions to mitigate potential exploitation.
Workaround and Mitigation
To mitigate the risks associated with these vulnerabilities, organizations should immediately apply the patches released by Trend Micro. Updating to the latest version is crucial to protect against potential exploitation. Additionally, organizations should limit access to the management console to trusted networks only, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. Implementing monitoring solutions to detect any unauthorized access attempts to the management console is also recommended. Furthermore, restricting physical and remote access to critical systems can help prevent exploitation.
References
For more detailed information on these vulnerabilities and the recommended mitigation strategies, please refer to the following resources:
- Trend Micro Security Bulletin: https://success.trendmicro.com/en-US/solution/KA-0016669
- Security Affairs Article: https://securityaffairs.com/151095/hacking/trend-micro-apex-one-zero-day-flaw.html
- Japan CERT Alert: https://www.jpcert.or.jp/english/at/2023/at230041.html
- GBHackers Article: https://gbhackers.com/trend-micro-apex-one-vulnerabilities/
Rescana is here for you
At Rescana, we are dedicated to assisting our customers in navigating the complex landscape of cybersecurity threats. Our Continuous Threat and Exposure Management (CTEM) platform is designed to provide comprehensive threat intelligence and vulnerability management solutions. We are committed to helping you protect your organization from potential threats and vulnerabilities. For further assistance or inquiries, please contact us at ops@rescana.com.