Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-49220 is a critical-severity Use of Obsolete Function (CWE-477) vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex Central. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 21% 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.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
An insecure deserialization flaw exists in Trend Micro Apex Central versions prior to 8.0.7007. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-49220 and assigned CWE-502 along with CWE-477, permits unauthenticated remote code execution and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8. It resides in a different code path from the related CVE-2025-49219 but shares the same root cause of unsafe handling of serialized data.
An attacker with network access can submit a crafted serialized object to the affected Apex Central instance without requiring credentials or user interaction. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the application, enabling full compromise of the management server.
The vendor advisory at success.trendmicro.com directs customers to upgrade to Apex Central 8.0.7007 or later. The Zero Day Initiative advisory ZDI-25-367 corroborates the pre-authentication remote code execution impact and aligns with the official fix guidance.
EPSS scores have remained in a narrow band between 0.0836 and a peak of 0.0992 with no pronounced upward trajectory after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-18514
Vulnerability Data
An insecure deserialization operation in Trend Micro Apex Central below version 8.0.7007 could lead to a pre-authentication remote code execution on affected installations. Note that this vulnerability is similar to CVE-2025-49219 but is in a different method.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can uncover deserialization flaws before deployment.
Input validation directly stops deserialization of untrusted data by ensuring inputs are valid before processing.
Documented developer standards and tools can mandate current APIs and prohibit deprecated functions during coding.
Engineering principles such as safe deserialization and input sanitization structurally prevent the weakness from being introduced.
Flaw remediation processes and updates can identify and replace obsolete functions discovered after introduction.
Integrity verification tools can detect malformed or tampered serialized data after the fact.
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.
Software maintenance and replacement directly eliminates use of deprecated functions.
Secure SDLC practices enforce review and removal of obsolete functions during development.
Lifecycle management of software includes replacing obsolete functions and code.
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.
Security testing includes validation of deserialization routines and the use of untrusted data, reducing the likelihood that unsafe object reconstruction will be deployed.
Secure SDLC processes include code reviews and maintenance that catch obsolete functions.
Secure coding standards explicitly prohibit use of deprecated/obsolete functions.
Change management can trigger reviews that remove obsolete functions but does not directly address them.
Regular scanning of third-party libraries and timely patching reduce the likelihood that unsafe deserialization vulnerabilities remain active.
Mandatory malware scanning of data received over networks or storage media intercepts malicious serialized payloads before they are deserialized by the target application.