Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-69259 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Trendmicro Apex Central. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique DHCP Spoofing (T1557.003); ranked in the top 27% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) and IA-3 (Device Identification and Authentication) — 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.
CVE-2025-69259 is a message unchecked NULL return value vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex Central that could allow a remote attacker to create a denial-of-service condition on affected installations. Published on 2026-01-08T13:15:43.020, the issue is rated with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and maps to CWEs 120, 346, and 476.
A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability without requiring authentication. Successful exploitation results in a denial-of-service condition, disrupting availability on targeted installations due to the unchecked NULL return value in message handling.
Trend Micro has published security advisories detailing the issue and mitigation steps, available at https://success.trendmicro.com/en-US/solution/KA-0022071 (English) and https://success.trendmicro.com/ja-JP/solution/KA-0022081 (Japanese). Additional analysis is provided in Tenable's research advisory at https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2026-01.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-1570
Vulnerability Data
A message unchecked NULL return value vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex Central could allow a remote attacker to create a denial-of-service condition on affected installations. Please note: authentication is not required in order to exploit this vulnerability..
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 3 hardening rules · 1 OS baseline
V5.2.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Information flow enforcement directly requires validating the source of data before allowing transmission or receipt.
Device identification and authentication mandates verifying the source before establishing connections.
Developer testing and analysis can find missing size checks before deployment.
Session authenticity mechanisms require validation that communications originate from the expected party.
Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.
Documented development standards and tools can enforce null-safety rules and safe pointer usage.
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.
Authentication directly verifies the source of users/services/hardware, mitigating origin validation failures.
Verifying identity assertions enforces origin validation for conveyed claims.
Secure development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.
Documenting authorized flows supports origin validation by defining expected sources.
Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.
Protecting networks from unauthorized access requires origin checks on communication sources.
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.
Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.
Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.
Network security controls enforce origin validation at network boundaries.
Security of network services includes validating the authenticity of service endpoints.
Network segregation reduces exposure but does not directly validate origins.
Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (3 rules)
- V-248574 YUM must be configured to prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or OL 8 system components that have not been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-346
- V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-346
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-346