Security Resilience

CVE-2023-52325

Trendmicro Apex Central 2019

Published
23 January 2024
Modified
22 December 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.045 91th percentile
Risk Priority 61 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-52325 is a high-severity PHP Remote File Inclusion (CWE-98) vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex Central. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A local file inclusion vulnerability in one of Trend Micro Apex Central's widgets could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on affected installations. Please note: this vulnerability must be used in conjunction with another one to exploit an…

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affected system. In addition, an attacker must first obtain a valid set of credentials on target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-OtherCWE-98

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.002 SMB/Windows Admin Shares Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1027.001 Binary Padding Stealth
Adversaries may use binary padding to add junk data and change the on-disk representation of malware.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-52329Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-52327Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-52326Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-32532Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-32605Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-32533Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-32535Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-32537Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-32531Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central
CVE-2023-52328Same product: Trendmicro Apex Central

Affected Assets

trendmicro
apex central
2019

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and static analysis can discover missing filename restrictions before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Validating all inputs before they reach include/require statements directly stops untrusted filenames from being used.

AC-3 Access Enforcement partial match

Enforcing access authorizations on resources limits what an included file can reach even if a bad name is supplied.

AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement partial match

Information-flow rules can block the loading of external or unauthorized files into the PHP process.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-01 partial match
blocks

Hardened runtime configuration (e.g., allow_url_include=off) directly blocks RFI even if code is flawed.

PR.PS-05 partial match
blocks

Execution restrictions can prevent the remote payload from running, while eliminating the weakness reduces the need for such controls.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices such as input validation and allow-listing of include paths directly prevent the weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References