CVE-2020-24557 Trend Micro Multiple Products Improper Access Control

Exploited in the wild High 7.8 Published 1 Sep 2020 Updated 21 Oct 2025

Attackers with low-privileged code execution can manipulate product folders to disable security and escalate privileges on Windows systems.

Exploited in the wild: Since 3 Nov 2021
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2020-24557?

CVE-2020-24557 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 and Worry-Free Business Security 10.0 SP1 on Microsoft Windows may allow an attacker to manipulate a particular product folder to disable the security temporarily, abuse a specific Windows function and attain privilege escalation. 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.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-24557?

It affects 2 products.

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

How do I fix CVE-2020-24557?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-24557 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 3 May 2022.

Is CVE-2020-24557 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2020-24557 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021.

All Trendmicro Apex One vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-rf37-cmcm-645m.