CVE-2021-45231
A link following privilege escalation vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One (on-prem and SaaS)...
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.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
7.8
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.
- Record
CVE-2021-45231- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.2 High
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-59
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
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.
- Record
CVE-2021-45231- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-32011 No score
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.
- Record
EUVD-2021-32011- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-c7c6-gf69-v976
7.8
A link following privilege escalation vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One (on-prem and SaaS)...
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.
- Record
GHSA-c7c6-gf69-v976- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, products | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-45231 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Trend Micro Apex One, published January 8, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.66%, the 52nd percentile. No source names a fixed version.