# CVE-2020-28572: Privilege escalation in Trend Micro Apex One

> An unprivileged user can abuse the Trend Micro Apex One installer to reinstall the agent with malicious code, gaining higher privileges.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Nov 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mm57-2rfm-crr2

## What is CVE-2020-28572?

CVE-2020-28572 is a high-severity vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex One, published on 18 Nov 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 could allow an unprivileged user to abuse the product installer to reinstall the agent with additional malicious code in the context of a higher privilege.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-28572?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Trendmicro Apex One.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-28572?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-28572 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-28572 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-28572 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Trendmicro Apex One

- [CVE-2020-8599](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8599/): Trend Micro Apex One and OfficeScan Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-54948](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54948/): Trend Micro Apex One OS Command Injection (critical 9.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-36741](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36741/): Trend Micro Multiple Products Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-8467](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8467/): Trend Micro Apex One and OfficeScan Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-8468](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8468/): Trend Micro Multiple Products Content Validation Escape (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-28572 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-28572 is a high-severity vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex One, published on 18 Nov 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-28572 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Trendmicro Apex One. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28572/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28572/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-28572
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28572
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-28572

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28572/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.