Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
6DescriptionCVE.org
Trend Micro Security 17.8 (Consumer) is vulnerable to a link following local privilege escalation vulnerability that could allow a local attacker to unintentionally delete privileged Trend Micro files including its own.
AnalysisAI
Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Trend Micro Security 17.8 (Consumer) that exploits insecure link following to allow a low-privileged local attacker to delete privileged Trend Micro files, potentially compromising the security product's integrity. With a CVSS score of 7.8 and low attack complexity (AC:L), this vulnerability poses a significant risk to consumer systems where privilege escalation could disable or corrupt critical security components. No active exploitation (KEV status) or public POC has been reported at this time, but the low barrier to exploitation (local access with low privileges required) warrants prompt patching.
Technical ContextAI
The vulnerability is rooted in CWE-64 (Improper Control of Generation of Code), which in this context manifests as insecure link/symlink following. Trend Micro Security (CPE likely: cpe:2.3:a:trendmicro:security:17.8:*:*:*:consumer:*:*:*) fails to properly validate symbolic links or shortcut targets before performing file operations with elevated privileges. When a low-privileged user (PR:L) triggers file deletion or maintenance operations, the product follows attacker-controlled links to delete arbitrary privileged files owned by or trusted by Trend Micro processes running at system/administrator level. This is a classic privilege escalation via link-following, where the trust boundary between user-writable directories and privileged operations is not properly maintained.
RemediationAI
Immediate: (1) Update Trend Micro Security to version 18.0 or later (patch version not specified in provided data; consult Trend Micro support portal). (2) Verify the installed version via Control Panel > Programs and Features or Trend Micro's agent console. Interim mitigations (pending patch deployment): (3) Restrict local system access to trusted users only; disable guest accounts and limit service account privileges. (4) Audit file permissions on Trend Micro installation directories (typically C:\Program Files\Trend Micro or equivalent) to ensure they are not writable by unprivileged users. (5) Monitor for symbolic links or shortcuts in user-writable directories (%TEMP%, %APPDATA%) that target Trend Micro files. (6) Run Trend Micro services with minimal required privileges (already standard but verify). Refer to Trend Micro's official security advisory for patch download links and detailed remediation steps; this information was not included in the provided source data.
Windows Win32k fails to properly handle objects in memory, allowing local privilege escalation exploited in the wild in
A privilege escalation vulnerability (CVSS 5.5). Risk factors: actively exploited (KEV-listed), EPSS 94% exploitation pr
Windows Internet Shortcut Files (.url) contain an external control vulnerability (CVE-2025-33053, CVSS 8.8) that enables
Windows SMB contains an improper access control vulnerability (CVE-2025-33073, CVSS 8.8) enabling authenticated attacker
Twonky Server 8.5.2 on Linux and Windows allows unauthenticated access to the admin log file through a web service API b
An unrestricted file upload vulnerability exists in MiniWeb HTTP Server <= Build 300 that allows unauthenticated remote
FreeFloat FTP Server contains multiple critical design flaws that allow unauthenticated remote attackers to upload arbit
Serviio Media Server versions 1.4 through 1.8 on Windows contain an unauthenticated command injection in the /rest/actio
Twonky Server 8.5.2 uses hard-coded cryptographic keys for encrypting the administrator password. Combined with the cred
Mako Server versions 2.5 and 2.6 contain an unauthenticated OS command injection via the tutorial interface at examples/
React Native Metro Development Server binds to external interfaces by default and contains an OS command injection endpo
External control of file name or path in Windows NTLM allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network
Same weakness CWE-64 – Windows Shortcut Following (.LNK)
View allSame technique Privilege Escalation
View allShare
External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2025-18561