Administrative-console command execution via manipulated AV uninstaller
Published Sep 19, 2023 · Updated Oct 21, 2025
Code injection in Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security allows remote authenticated users to execute system commands. Trend Micro identifies the third-party AV uninstaller as the vulnerable locus but has not disclosed how manipulated console input becomes an executed command. Administrative-console access is required, and successful exploitation runs code with system privileges on the Windows endpoint hosting the Security Agent.
Summary
What happened
Code injection in Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security allows remote authenticated users to execute system commands. Trend Micro identifies the third-party AV uninstaller as the vulnerable locus but has not disclosed how manipulated console input becomes an executed command. Administrative-console access is required, and successful exploitation runs code with system privileges on the Windows endpoint hosting the Security Agent.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-41179
- Published
- Sep 19, 2023
- Updated
- Oct 21, 2025
- Vendor
- Trend Micro
- Product
- Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security
- Classifications
- CWE-94, CAPEC-242, T1059
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 19, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 21, 2023Exploitation reportedCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog entry
- Oct 21, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=10.0 SP1 <10.0 SP1 Build 2495
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- Trend Micro observed exploitation attemptreported exploitation
- CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog entryknown exploited catalog
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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