CVE-2025-49157: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One Damage Cleanup Engine

Overview

This blog post aims to shed light on a critical vulnerability that affects the Trend Micro Apex One Damage Cleanup Engine. CVE-2025-49157 is a privilege escalation vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by local attackers to compromise the system. As a cybersecurity expert, it is essential to understand this vulnerability, how it operates, who it affects, and the possible mitigation techniques. Given the ubiquitous use of Trend Micro’s security products worldwide, this vulnerability could have significant implications, potentially leading to a system compromise or data leakage if not adequately addressed.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-49157
Severity: High (CVSS: 7.8)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Trend Micro Apex One | All versions prior to the patch

How the Exploit Works

Exploiting CVE-2025-49157 involves an attacker first obtaining the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system. This could be achieved through tactics such as spear phishing, drive-by downloads, or exploiting another vulnerability. Upon gaining this initial foothold, the attacker can then exploit the link following vulnerability in the Trend Micro Apex One Damage Cleanup Engine to escalate their privileges, thereby gaining increased access to the system.

Conceptual Example Code

Below is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This pseudocode represents an attacker’s attempt to execute a malicious payload using low-privileged code:

# Initial low-privileged code execution
$ execute_low_privilege_code.sh
# Malicious payload exploiting link following vulnerability
$ ln -s /target_file /tmp/vulnerable_link
$ echo "malicious_payload" > /tmp/vulnerable_link

In this example, the attacker first executes low-privileged code (`execute_low_privilege_code.sh`). They then create a symbolic link to a target file before writing a malicious payload into this link. Due to the link following vulnerability, this payload is written into the target file, thereby escalating the attacker’s privileges.

Potential Mitigations

The most recommended mitigation for CVE-2025-49157 is to apply the patch provided by the vendor, Trend Micro. If the patch cannot be immediately applied, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as temporary mitigation measures. These tools can detect and prevent attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, they should not be viewed as a long-term solution, and patching the affected system should be treated as a matter of urgency.
By staying informed about vulnerabilities such as CVE-2025-49157, cybersecurity professionals can better protect their systems and data against potential threats and attacks.