Privilege escalation in Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac

1) Link following

EUVDB-ID: #VU60593

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-24671

CWE-ID: CWE-59 - Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to insecure link processing within the program_after_update script during the update process. A local user can create a specially crafted symbolic link to a critical file on the system and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Antivirus for Mac: 2021 (v11) - 2021 v11 Hotfix

External links

http://helpcenter.trendmicro.com/en-us/article/TMKA-10937
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-22-371/

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.