The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an urgent alert concerning a critical OS command injection vulnerability in Trend Micro’s Apex One Management Console. This flaw, identified as CVE-2025-54948 and classified under CWE-78, is currently being actively exploited by malicious actors, posing significant risks to organizations utilizing on-premise installations of this enterprise security platform.
Understanding CVE-2025-54948
CVE-2025-54948 is a severe vulnerability affecting the on-premise deployments of Trend Micro’s Apex One Management Console. This flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to upload arbitrary code and execute system commands on compromised systems, potentially leading to full system compromise.
The root cause of this vulnerability lies in inadequate input validation within the management console interface. Attackers can exploit this weakness by sending specially crafted requests that inject malicious OS commands. Once successfully exploited, the vulnerability enables attackers to execute arbitrary commands with the application’s privileges, effectively bypassing security controls and gaining unauthorized access to sensitive systems.
Security researchers have categorized this vulnerability under CWE-78, which pertains to the improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command. This classification indicates that the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before passing it to system command execution functions. The pre-authenticated nature of this exploit is particularly concerning, as it allows attackers to leverage the vulnerability without needing valid credentials.
Risk Factors and Impact
The following table summarizes the key risk factors associated with CVE-2025-54948:
| Risk Factor | Details |
|———————–|————————————————————————-|
| Affected Products | Trend Micro Apex One Management Console (on-premise installations) |
| Impact | Remote code execution, arbitrary command execution |
| Exploit Prerequisites | Pre-authenticated remote access |
| CVSS 3.1 Score | 9.8 (Critical) |
The high CVSS score underscores the critical nature of this vulnerability. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized access, data exfiltration, and potential deployment of malware or ransomware, severely compromising organizational security.
Mitigation Measures
In response to the active exploitation of CVE-2025-54948, CISA has added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog as of August 18, 2025. Federal agencies are mandated to remediate this vulnerability by September 8, 2025. CISA strongly advises all organizations to apply vendor-provided mitigations immediately or discontinue the use of affected products if patches are unavailable.
Trend Micro has released security advisories and remediation guidance through its technical support channels. System administrators are urged to:
– Review their Apex One Management Console deployments.
– Apply available security updates without delay.
– Monitor for suspicious authentication attempts or unusual system command execution patterns.
While it remains uncertain whether this vulnerability has been incorporated into ransomware campaigns, the active exploitation status indicates that sophisticated threat actors are already weaponizing this flaw. Organizations should prioritize patching efforts and implement additional network segmentation controls around Apex One deployments as interim protective measures.
Additional Vulnerabilities: CVE-2025-54987
In addition to CVE-2025-54948, another critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-54987, has been identified in Trend Micro’s Apex One Management Console. This vulnerability is essentially the same as CVE-2025-54948 but targets a different CPU architecture. Both vulnerabilities carry a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.4, indicating maximum severity risk.
These command injection flaws allow pre-authenticated remote attackers to upload malicious code and execute arbitrary commands on affected installations. The vulnerabilities specifically target Trend Micro Apex One Management Server Version 14039 and below on Windows platforms.
Emergency Mitigation Tools and Patches
Trend Micro has released an emergency fix tool designated FixTool_Aug2025.exe to provide immediate protection against known exploits. This short-term mitigation fully protects against current attack methods but temporarily disables the Remote Install Agent function for deploying agents from the Management Console.
Organizations using Trend Micro Apex One as a Service and Trend Vision One Endpoint Security received automatic protection through backend mitigations deployed on July 31, 2025, requiring no service downtime.
A comprehensive Critical Patch is expected for release in mid-August 2025, which will restore full Remote Install Agent functionality while maintaining security protections.
Recommendations for Organizations
To mitigate the risk posed by these vulnerabilities, organizations are advised to:
– Apply the temporary fix tool provided by Trend Micro.
– Review remote access to critical systems and ensure policies and perimeter security are up-to-date.
– Implement additional network segmentation and access controls as defense-in-depth measures.
Security experts strongly recommend immediate application of the emergency fix tool, particularly for organizations with internet-facing management consoles.
Conclusion
The active exploitation of critical vulnerabilities in Trend Micro’s Apex One Management Console underscores the importance of prompt and proactive security measures. Organizations must remain vigilant, apply necessary patches and mitigations, and continuously monitor their systems to safeguard against potential threats.
