5 min read
By: RedLegg's Cyber Threat Intelligence Team
About:
CVE-2025-69258 is a critical unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in on-premises Trend Micro Apex Central caused by unsafe DLL loading behavior. By abusing the LoadLibraryEx mechanism, a remote unauthenticated attacker can force Apex Central to load attacker-controlled DLLs into a privileged process. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution with SYSTEM-level privileges on the Apex Central server, enabling full compromise of the security management platform.
RedLegg will occasionally communicate vulnerabilities released outside the usual release schedule to provide additional value to our customers. These emergency bulletins describe vulnerabilities or threats we classify as the highest severity level and warrant out-of-band emergency patching or mitigation action.
VULNERABILITIES
Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via DLL Injection in Trend Micro Apex Central
CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical, CVSS v3.1)
Identifier: CVE-2025-69258
Exploit or Proof of Concept (PoC):
Public proof-of-concept documentation is available demonstrating unauthenticated remote code execution against vulnerable on-premises Trend Micro Apex Central installations.
Update/ Patch:
Trend Micro has released a critical update that remediates CVE-2025-69258. The fix is included in Apex Central Critical Patch Build 7190.
Official vendor patch and remediation guidance:
https://success.trendmicro.com/en-US/solution/KA-0022071
Administrators should immediately apply the critical patch and verify that Apex Central is running the fixed build.
Description:
CVE-2025-69258 is an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex Central (On-prem). The flaw is related to unsafe loading of dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), allowing an attacker to leverage the LoadLibraryEx mechanism to load attacker-controlled code into a privileged Apex Central process. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution with SYSTEM-level privileges on the Apex Central server.
Mitigation Recommendation:
Immediately apply the Trend Micro Apex Central critical patch (Build 7190) as documented in the vendor advisory.
Confirm the Apex Central build number after patching to ensure the fix is successfully applied.
Restrict network access to Apex Central management interfaces to trusted administrative networks only. Do not expose Apex Central directly to the internet.
