CVE-2025-71214

7.8

Trend Micro · Apex One (Mac)

An origin validation error in the Trend Micro Apex One (Mac) agent iCore service may allow a local authenticated attacker to achieve privilege escalation.

Executive summary

A local privilege escalation flaw in the Trend Micro Apex One (Mac) iCore service allows authenticated users to gain elevated rights, necessitating immediate remediation.

Vulnerability

The vulnerability is an origin validation error within the agent's iCore service. An attacker with low-level local access (PR:L) can exploit this service to perform operations outside of their intended permission level.

Business impact

With a CVSS score of 7.8, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to organizational security. Successful exploitation grants an attacker elevated privileges, which could be used to disable security monitoring, exfiltrate sensitive data, or establish a permanent foothold on the compromised macOS system.

Remediation

Immediate Action: Refer to the Trend Micro security advisory (KA-0022458) to identify and install the required security patch for the iCore service.

Proactive Monitoring: Review system logs for unusual interaction with the iCore service or unexpected service restarts that may indicate an exploitation attempt.

Compensating Controls: Implement endpoint monitoring to detect unauthorized privilege changes or anomalous service behavior on Mac environments.

Exploitation status

Public Exploit Available: No

Analyst recommendation

The severity of this issue demands prompt attention. Security teams should prioritize patching the Trend Micro Apex One (Mac) agent to eliminate this privilege escalation risk. Ensure that all updates are verified via the official Trend Micro support portal to maintain system integrity.

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