Trend Micro patched a remote code execution zero-day vulnerability in the Apex One endpoint protection solution that was actively exploited in the wild.
Apex One is an endpoint security solution catering to businesses of all sizes, and the ‘Worry-Free Business Security’ suite is designed for small to medium-sized companies.
The arbitrary code execution flaw which has been tracked as CVE-2023-41179 and has a severity rating of 9.1 according to CVSS v3, is considered as “critical.”
The flaw is found in a third-party uninstaller module supplied with the security software.
Trend Micro has observed at least one active attempt of potential attacks against this vulnerability in the wild.
The users are highly recommended to update to the latest versions as soon as possible.
The flaw impacts the following products:
- Trend Micro Apex One 2019
- Trend Micro Apex One SaaS 2019
- Worry-Free Business Security (WFBS) 10.0 SP1 (sold as Virus Buster Business Security (Biz) in Japan)
- Worry-Free Business Security Services (WFBSS) 10.0 SP1 (sold as Virus Buster Business Security Services (VBBSS) in Japan)
Fixes were made available in the following releases:
- Apex One 2019 Service Pack 1 – Patch 1 (Build 12380)
- Apex One SaaS 14.0.12637
- WFBS Patch 2495
- WFBSS July 31 update
A mitigating factor is that to exploit CVE-2023-41179, the attacker must have previously stolen the product’s management console credentials and used them to log in.
Trend Micro stated that exploiting these type of vulnerabilities require an attacker has access (physical or remote) to a vulnerable machine.
The Japanese CERT has also issued an alert about the active exploitation of the flaw, urging users of the impacted software to upgrade to a secure release as soon as possible.
An effective workaround is limiting access to the product’s administration console to trusted networks, locking out rogue actors who attempt to access the endpoint from external, arbitrary locations.
The admins need to install the security updates to prevent threat actors who already breached a network from utilizing the flaw to spread laterally to other devices.
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