# CVE-2026-45208: Trend Micro Apex One and Vision One SEP TOCTOU privilege escalation

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-45208-trend-micro-apex-one-and-vision-one-sep-toctou-privilege  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-05-21. Updated: 2026-05-21  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-45208 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.8 · Published 2026-05-21

Trend Micro Apex One and Vision One endpoint agents are used to protect corporate computers from malware and cyber threats. A vulnerability in these agents could allow a person who already has limited access to a computer to gain full administrative control. This could lead to the unauthorized access of sensitive data or the disabling of security protections on the affected machine.

Technologies: [Trend Micro Apex One Agent](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/apex-one-agent), [Trend Micro Apex One as a Service Agent](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/apex-one-as-a-service-agent), [Trend Micro Vision One Endpoint Security Agent](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/vision-one-endpoint-security-agent). Vendors: [Trend Micro](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/trend-micro).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-45208 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-45208 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-45208?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.8, published 21 May 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Trend Micro Apex One as a Service Agent Below 14.0.20731.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-45208?** A patch was published on 2026-05-21. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-45208 attacked?** It is attacked with local access, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-45208?** Check whether you run Trend Micro Apex One Agent, Trend Micro Apex One as a Service Agent or Trend Micro Vision One Endpoint Security Agent at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

A time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability (CWE-367) exists in the Trend Micro Apex One and Vision One Standard Endpoint Protection (SEP) agents for Windows. The flaw occurs when the agent checks a resource property before performing an action, but the resource is modified by a malicious process between the check and the use. An attacker who has already obtained low-privileged code execution on the target system can exploit this race condition to escalate their privileges to a higher level. Trend Micro has released patches for both on-premises and SaaS versions of the affected products to address this issue.

## Affected products

- Trend Micro Apex One (On-prem) Agent Below 17079
- Trend Micro Apex One as a Service Agent Below 14.0.20731
- Trend Micro Vision One Endpoint Security - Standard Endpoint Protection (SEP) Agent Below 14.0.20731

## Timeline

- 2026-05-21: disclosed
- 2026-05-21: advisory
- 2026-05-21: patched

## References

- [https://success.trendmicro.com/en-US/solution/KA-0023430](https://success.trendmicro.com/en-US/solution/KA-0023430)

## Related threats

- [Trend Micro Apex One and Vision One privilege escalation in Security Agent](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-45207-trend-micro-apex-one-and-vision-one-privilege-escalation-in)
- [Trend Micro Apex One and Vision One SEP privilege escalation in agent](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-45206-trend-micro-apex-one-and-vision-one-sep-privilege-escalation-in)
- [Trend Micro Apex One origin validation privilege escalation in IPC](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-34929-trend-micro-apex-one-origin-validation-privilege-escalation-in)
- [Trend Micro Apex One origin validation privilege escalation in agent named pipe](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-34928-trend-micro-apex-one-origin-validation-privilege-escalation-in)
- [Trend Micro Apex One and Vision One SEP origin validation privilege escalation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-34927-trend-micro-apex-one-and-vision-one-sep-origin-validation)