CVE-2020-24556 Privilege escalation in Trend Micro Apex One

High 7.8 Published 1 Sep 2020 Updated 4 Aug 2024

Attackers with low-privileged code execution can exploit hard link creation to achieve privilege escalation and arbitrary code execution on Windows systems.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2020-24556?

CVE-2020-24556 is a high-severity vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex One, published on 1 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One, OfficeScan XG SP1, Worry-Free Business Security 10 SP1 and Worry-Free Business Security Services on Microsoft Windows may allow an attacker to create a hard link to any file on the system, which then could be manipulated to gain a privilege escalation and code execution. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. Please note that version 1909 (OS Build 18363.719) of Microsoft Windows 10 mitigates hard links, but previous versions are affected.

Weakness: CWE-59

Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-24556?

It affects 3 products.

Products include Trendmicro Apex One, Trendmicro Worry-Free Business Security, Trendmicro Worry-Free Business Security Services.

How do I fix CVE-2020-24556?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-24556 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2020-24556 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-24556 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Trendmicro Apex One vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-28fh-4j57-cc4w.