CISA Alerts on Active Exploitation of Trend Micro Apex One Vulnerability

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a critical Trend Micro Apex One vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, warning of active exploitation targeting the enterprise security platform.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-54948, affects the Trend Micro Apex One Management Console’s on-premise deployments and poses significant risks to organizations worldwide.

Critical OS Command Injection Flaw

The vulnerability represents a severe OS command injection flaw within Trend Micro’s Apex One Management Console, allowing pre-authenticated remote attackers to upload malicious code and execute arbitrary commands on affected installations.

This type of vulnerability, categorized under CWE-78 (OS Command Injection), enables attackers who have already gained initial access to escalate their privileges and potentially compromise entire network infrastructures.

Security researchers have identified that the flaw requires pre-authentication, meaning attackers must first obtain valid credentials or exploit another vulnerability to gain initial access before leveraging CVE-2025-54948.

However, once exploited, the vulnerability provides attackers with powerful capabilities to execute system-level commands, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

CISA’s inclusion of CVE-2025-54948 in the KEV catalog on August 18, 2025, triggers mandatory compliance requirements for federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01.

These agencies must implement vendor-recommended mitigations, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue product usage by the September 8, 2025 deadline.

The rapid 21-day remediation timeline underscores the severity of the threat and the urgency with which organizations should address this vulnerability.

While BOD 22-01 specifically targets federal agencies, CISA strongly encourages all organizations using Trend Micro Apex One to prioritize remediation efforts.

Although CISA has not yet confirmed the vulnerability’s use in ransomware campaigns, the classification as “Unknown” for ransomware activity suggests ongoing investigation.

The combination of command injection capabilities and enterprise security platform access makes CVE-2025-54948 particularly attractive to ransomware operators seeking to disable security controls and establish persistence within targeted networks.

Organizations should monitor threat intelligence feeds for updates regarding potential ransomware exploitation and implement additional security measures around their Apex One deployments while awaiting vendor patches.

Organizations using Trend Micro Apex One should immediately consult vendor security advisories, implement recommended mitigations, and consider additional monitoring around affected systems until comprehensive patches become available.

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