# CVE-2021-44023: Path traversal in Trend Micro Security (Consumer)

> Attackers can abuse the PC Health Checkup feature to create symlinks, modifying files and causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:** 16 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jx33-88wc-7x75

## What is CVE-2021-44023?

CVE-2021-44023 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Trend Micro Security (Consumer), published on 16 Dec 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A link following denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in the Trend Micro Security (Consumer) 2021 familiy of products could allow an attacker to abuse the PC Health Checkup feature of the product to create symlinks that would allow modification of files which could lead to a denial-of-service.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-44023?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Trendmicro Antivirus\+ Security 2021, Trendmicro Internet Security 2021, Trendmicro Maximum Security 2021, Trendmicro Premium Security 2021.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-44023?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-44023 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-44023 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-44023 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Trend Micro Security (Consumer)

- [CVE-2023-28929](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-28929/): Other in Trend Micro Security (Consumer) (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-44023 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-44023 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Trend Micro Security (Consumer), published on 16 Dec 2021. 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-2021-44023 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Trend Micro Security (Consumer). 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-2021-44023/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-44023/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-44023
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44023
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-44023

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-44023/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.