CVE-2025-71214
Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete
Privilege Escalation in Trend Micro Apex One macOS Agent

Publication date: 2026-05-21

Last updated on: 2026-06-05

Assigner: Trend Micro, Inc.

Description
An origin validation error vulnerability in the Trend Micro Apex One (mac) agent iCore service could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges on affected installations. Please note: an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The following information is provided as informational only for CVE references, as these were addressed already via ActiveUpdate/SaaS updates in mid to late 2025 (SaaS 2507 & 2005 Yearly Release).
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Meta Information
Published
2026-05-21
Last Modified
2026-06-05
Generated
2026-06-10
AI Q&A
2026-05-21
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-09
NVD
CVE-2025-71214
EUVD
EUVD-2025-209912
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 2 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
trendmicro apex_one *
trendmicro apex_one *
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-346 The product does not properly verify that the source of data or communication is valid.
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Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability allows an attacker with limited access to the system to gain root-level privileges. This means the attacker can execute arbitrary code with the highest system permissions, potentially leading to full system compromise, unauthorized access to sensitive data, and disruption of system operations.

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a local privilege escalation issue in the Trend Micro Apex One (mac) agent's iCore service. It arises from an origin validation error where the service does not properly verify the source of inter-process communication (IPC) messages. As a result, an attacker who already has the ability to run low-privileged code on the system can exploit this flaw to escalate their privileges to root and execute arbitrary code.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves a local privilege escalation in the Trend Micro Apex One (mac) agent iCore service due to insufficient origin validation of IPC messages.

Detection would require verifying if the affected Trend Micro Apex One agent is installed and running on the system.

Since exploitation requires local low-privileged code execution, monitoring for unusual privilege escalation attempts or suspicious IPC message activity related to the iCore service could help detect exploitation attempts.

Specific commands are not provided in the available resources.

Mitigation Strategies

The primary mitigation step is to apply the updates released by Trend Micro that address this vulnerability.

Trend Micro released ActiveUpdate/SaaS updates in mid to late 2025 (SaaS 2507 & 2005 Yearly Release) which fix this issue.

Ensuring that the Trend Micro Apex One agent is updated to the latest version will prevent exploitation of this vulnerability.

Additionally, limiting the ability of untrusted users to execute low-privileged code on the system reduces the risk of exploitation.

Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify how this vulnerability affects compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

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