⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● Critical · CVSS 9.8 ⚠ ACTIVELY EXPLOITED — CISA KEV

How to Fix CVE-2020-8599: Arbitrary File Upload Directory Traversal

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 9.8, Critical
Actively exploited?Yes, listed in CISA KEV (added 2021-11-03)
AffectedTrend Micro OfficeScan, Trend Micro Apex One (OfficeScan XG (12.0), Apex One 2019 (14.0))
Fixed inSee vendor advisory
Type (CWE)Arbitrary File Upload Directory Traversal
⚠️ Patch immediately. CVE-2020-8599 is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03). Federal agencies had until 2022-05-03 to remediate.

What is CVE-2020-8599?

Trend Micro Apex One (2019) and OfficeScan XG server contain a vulnerable EXE file that could allow a remote attacker to write arbitrary data to an arbitrary path on affected installations and bypass ROOT login. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability.

In practical terms, a successful attacker gets a security bypass on the affected component. CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild, so this is not a theoretical risk.

Am I affected?

You're affected if you run Trend Micro OfficeScan, Trend Micro Apex One at any version in the Affected row above. Use these probes to find your installed build:


# Confirm the installed version via your package manager
dpkg -l | grep -i trend   # Debian/Ubuntu
rpm -qa | grep -i trend   # RHEL/CentOS/Rocky

How to fix CVE-2020-8599

The primary fix is to upgrade to the patched build listed in the Fixed in row above (See vendor advisory). Pick the platform that matches your install and run the commands below.

Windows (PowerShell, admin)


# Pull the latest Trend Micro update package via the agent CLI
& "$env:ProgramFiles\Trend Micro\AMSP\AmspInstall.exe" /upgrade
# Or, for OfficeScan/Apex One, run from the console:
Restart-Service -Name 'ofcservice' -Force

PowerShell script (Windows) - detect, back up, upgrade, verify, log


# Vendor advisory: https://success.trendmicro.com/solution/000245571
# Run as Administrator
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$log = "$env:ProgramData\TrendMicroOfficeScanTrendMicroApexOne-Patch-CVE-2020-8599.log"
function Write-Log($msg) { "$(Get-Date -Format s)  $msg" | Tee-Object -FilePath $log -Append }

Write-Log "Starting CVE-2020-8599 remediation for Trend Micro Trend Micro OfficeScan, Trend Micro Apex One"

# 1. Detect: replace the path/version probe with one valid for your install
$installed = (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product |
    Where-Object { $_.Name -like '*Trend*' } |
    Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty Version)
Write-Log "Detected version: $installed"

if (-not $installed) {
    Write-Log "Product not installed on this host; nothing to do."
    return
}
if ([version]$installed -ge [version]'<patched-version>') {
    Write-Log "Already at fixed version $installed; no action needed."
    return
}

# 2. Backup configuration to a timestamped folder
$backup = "$env:ProgramData\TrendMicroOfficeScanTrendMicroApexOne-Backup-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmm)"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $backup -Force | Out-Null
# Adjust the source path to match your install
$src = "$env:ProgramFiles\Trend Micro\Trend Micro OfficeScan, Trend Micro Apex One"
if (Test-Path $src) { Copy-Item -Path $src -Destination $backup -Recurse -Force }
Write-Log "Backed up config to $backup"

# 3. Apply the patched installer (place the verified file on a share or staging path)
$installer = "$env:TEMP\TrendMicroOfficeScanTrendMicroApexOne-<patched-version>.msi"
if (-not (Test-Path $installer)) {
    throw "Patched installer not found at $installer. Stage it from your software repo first."
}
Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList "/i `"$installer`" /qn /norestart" -Wait
Write-Log "Installer finished"

# 4. Verify
$verify = (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product |
    Where-Object { $_.Name -like '*Trend*' } |
    Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty Version)
if ([version]$verify -ge [version]'<patched-version>') {
    Write-Log "SUCCESS: now at $verify (>= <patched-version>)"
} else {
    Write-Log "FAILURE: still at $verify after install"
    exit 1
}

Bash script (Linux) - detect, back up, upgrade, verify, log


# Vendor advisory: https://success.trendmicro.com/solution/000245571
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
LOG=/var/log/trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one-patch-cve-2020-8599.log
log()  { echo "$(date -Iseconds)  $*" | tee -a "$LOG"; }

log "Starting CVE-2020-8599 remediation for Trend Micro Trend Micro OfficeScan, Trend Micro Apex One"

# 1. Detect installed version (works for deb and rpm packages)
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null && dpkg -s trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    CURRENT=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one)
    PKG_MGR=apt
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null && rpm -q trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    CURRENT=$(rpm -q --queryformat '%{VERSION}' trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one)
    PKG_MGR=dnf
else
    log "trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one not installed via apt or rpm; check your package manager or vendor instructions."
    exit 0
fi
log "Detected: trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one=$CURRENT (manager=$PKG_MGR)"

# 2. Backup config
BACKUP=/var/backups/trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M)
mkdir -p "$BACKUP"
for d in /etc/trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one /etc/${pkg%%-*} ; do
    [ -d "$d" ] && cp -a "$d" "$BACKUP/" && log "Backed up $d to $BACKUP"
done

# 3. Upgrade
if [ "$PKG_MGR" = apt ]; then
    sudo apt-get update -y
    sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one
else
    sudo dnf upgrade --security -y trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one
fi

# 4. Verify
if [ "$PKG_MGR" = apt ]; then
    NEW=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one)
else
    NEW=$(rpm -q --queryformat '%{VERSION}' trend-micro-officescan--trend-micro-apex-one)
fi
log "After upgrade: $NEW"

# Optionally compare against <patched-version> with dpkg --compare-versions or sort -V
log "Done. Restart the affected service if the package install did not."

If you can't patch immediately

These are runnable hardening commands. They reduce blast radius but they're not a replacement for the vendor patch.

No official vendor workaround is published for this CVE; patching is the only documented fix. The runnable hardening below is generic defense in depth, not a substitute for the patch.

Restrict the affected service to trusted networks (Linux):


# Vendor advisory: https://success.trendmicro.com/solution/000245571
# Replace <port> with the affected service port and 10.0.0.0/24 with your admin subnet
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <port> -s 10.0.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <port> -j DROP

Windows Firewall equivalent:


# Vendor advisory: https://success.trendmicro.com/solution/000245571
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Allow affected service from admin subnet' \
    -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort <port> -RemoteAddress 10.0.0.0/24
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Block affected service from everywhere else' \
    -Direction Inbound -Action Block -Protocol TCP -LocalPort <port>

How to verify the fix worked

Run the version probe again and confirm the running build matches the Fixed in row above.


# Confirm the running build matches the patched version listed by the vendor
# Example for Linux package installs:
dpkg -l | grep -i "trend"   # Debian/Ubuntu
rpm -qa | grep -i "trend"   # RHEL/CentOS/Rocky

Expected output: the package version should meet or exceed the patched build.

Then re-run any vulnerability scanner you used previously and confirm the finding for CVE-2020-8599 has cleared. Sweep your logs for the indicators of compromise listed in the vendor or CISA advisory, especially if the system was internet-reachable during the disclosure window.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2020-8599 being actively exploited?

Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means in-the-wild exploitation has been observed and confirmed.

How severe is CVE-2020-8599?

CVSS rates it 9.8 (Critical). Use that score to set your patch priority next to the other items in your queue.

Do I have to take Trend Micro OfficeScan, Trend Micro Apex One offline to apply the patch?

It depends on the deployment. High-availability or clustered installs can usually patch one node at a time with no full outage. Standalone installs typically need a short restart. Always follow the vendor's documented upgrade steps.

What if my vulnerability scanner still flags CVE-2020-8599 after I patch?

Re-run the scan after a service restart, then confirm the scanner's plugin set is up to date. Some scanners detect by banner version only and lag the official fix metadata by a release.

References

*Written by Sai Kiran Pandrala on 2026-05-25. Sourced from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV listing. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*