How severe is CVE-2020-24557?

CVE-2020-24557 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-24557?

Affected package information for CVE-2020-24557 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2020-24557?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2020-24557 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2020-24557 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2020-24557, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-24557?

CVE-2020-24557 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.9%, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

Is CVE-2020-24557 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2020-24557 (Trend Micro Multiple Products Improper Access Control Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-11-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-05-03. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2020-24557?

CVE-2020-24557 affects trendmicro apex one (1 version, e.g. 2019); trendmicro worry-free business security (1 version, e.g. 10.0). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2020-24557 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-24557 was published on September 1, 2020 and was last updated on October 31, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2020-24557: Apex One Privilege Escalation (High 7.8)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk84th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

A vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security 10.0 SP1 on Microsoft Windows may allow an attacker to manipulate a particular product folder to disable the security temporarily, abuse a specific Windows function and attain privilege escalation. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. Please note that version 1909 (OS Build 18363.719) of Microsoft Windows 10 mitigates hard links, but previous versions are affected.

Affected Products

2 products · 3 configurations

Application

apex onetrendmicro

1 version

2019

Application

worry-free business securitytrendmicro

1 version

10.0

Frequently Asked Questions

A vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security 10.0 SP1 on Microsoft Windows may allow an attacker to manipulate a particular product folder to disable the security temporarily, abuse a specific Windows function and attain privilege escalation. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. Please note that version 1909 (OS Build 18363.719) of Microsoft Windows 10 mitigates hard links, but previous versions are affected.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-24557 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2020-24557 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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