Exploited

CVE-2023-41179

Trend Micro Apex One (ex-OfficeScan) · Security products

Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

At a glance

Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on September 21, 2023.

Affected product: Trend Micro Apex One (ex-OfficeScan) (category Security products, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security.

What should I do?

Apply the patches or mitigations from Trend Micro; if none are available, stop using the product.

Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 21 days (due October 12, 2023). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.

Trend Micro security advisories page (general page, not the advisory for this vulnerability)
The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2023-41179 on the NVD website.

Original text of the required action (CISA)

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Timeline

September 19, 2023 Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
September 21, 2023 Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
October 12, 2023 CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies

The facts, with their sources

Exploitation confirmed: Yes, on September 21, 2023 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Ransomware: No known use to date That does not guarantee it is not being used: the information is not public. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Hunt for compromise: Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA required action: Apply the patches or mitigations from Trend Micro; if none are available, stop using the product. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA deadline: October 12, 2023, 21 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Vulnerability published: September 19, 2023 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Product according to CISA: Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security Filed by this site under “Security products” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC

Severity and activity

7.2 / 10 CVSS severity: high

Score from the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

— Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)

FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

Description

A vulnerability in the 3rd party AV uninstaller module contained in Trend Micro Apex One (on-prem and SaaS), Worry-Free Business Security and Worry-Free Business Security Services could allow an attacker to manipulate the module to execute arbitrary commands on an affected installation. Note that an attacker must first obtain administrative console access on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.

Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security contain an unspecified vulnerability in the third-party anti-virus uninstaller that could allow an attacker to manipulate the module to conduct remote code execution. An attacker must first obtain administrative console access on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.

Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).

CERT-FR advisories

No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.

Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.

Sources for this page

CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).