# CVE-2021-45231: Privilege escalation in Trend Micro Apex One

> A local attacker can escalate privileges by creating a specially crafted file, requiring prior low-privileged code execution on the system.

- **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:** 8 Jan 2022
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c7c6-gf69-v976

## What is CVE-2021-45231?

CVE-2021-45231 is a high-severity vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex One, published on 8 Jan 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A link following privilege escalation vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One (on-prem and SaaS) and Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security (10.0 SP1 and Services) could allow a local attacker to create a specially crafted file with arbitrary content which could grant local privilege escalation on the affected system. Please note: an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-45231?

It affects 3 products.


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

## How do I fix CVE-2021-45231?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-45231 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-45231 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-45231 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-2021-45231 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-45231 is a high-severity vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex One, published on 8 Jan 2022. 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-2021-45231 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-2021-45231/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45231/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-45231
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-45231
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-45231

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45231/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.