CVE-2018-10514 in Security 2018
Summary
by MITRE
A Missing Impersonation Privilege Escalation vulnerability in Trend Micro Security 2018 (Consumer) products could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges on vulnerable installations. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit the vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-10514 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within Trend Micro Security 2018 consumer products that fundamentally undermines system security boundaries. This issue manifests as a missing impersonation privilege escalation vulnerability, where the security software fails to properly validate or enforce privilege levels during critical system operations. The flaw specifically affects Trend Micro's consumer-grade security solutions, making them susceptible to local attackers who have already gained low-privileged access to the target system. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-272, which addresses "Least Privilege Violations" and specifically targets scenarios where software fails to properly enforce privilege separation during critical operations. According to ATT&CK framework reference T1068, this vulnerability enables privilege escalation techniques that allow adversaries to gain higher system privileges, making it a significant concern for endpoint security.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate privilege validation mechanisms within the Trend Micro security components. When legitimate system processes attempt to perform administrative operations, the software fails to properly impersonate the appropriate security context, allowing malicious code executing with limited privileges to potentially escalate to system-level access. The flaw typically occurs during service initialization or configuration updates where the software does not adequately verify that the calling process possesses sufficient privileges before proceeding with privileged operations. This missing validation creates an attack surface where local adversaries can exploit the privilege escalation path through carefully crafted execution sequences that leverage the software's own privilege handling mechanisms. The vulnerability demonstrates a failure in proper access control implementation that violates fundamental security principles of privilege separation and least privilege enforcement.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-10514 extends beyond simple privilege escalation, creating a comprehensive security risk that can enable further compromise of affected systems. Once successfully exploited, attackers can gain elevated privileges that allow them to modify security policies, disable protective features, install malware, or access sensitive system data. The vulnerability's local nature means that attackers do not require network access or remote exploitation capabilities, making it particularly dangerous in environments where physical or network access is already compromised. This flaw essentially provides a backdoor mechanism that bypasses the intended security architecture of the Trend Micro software, potentially allowing attackers to maintain persistent access while evading detection. The impact is particularly severe for consumer-grade systems where users may not have advanced security monitoring capabilities, making such exploitation more likely to go unnoticed for extended periods.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-10514 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Trend Micro products through official updates from the vendor, as this represents the most effective resolution to the privilege escalation vulnerability. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring for suspicious privilege escalation activities and ensure that all Trend Micro security components are running the latest versions with security patches applied. System administrators should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any installations that may still be running vulnerable versions of the software, particularly focusing on consumer-grade systems where the risk profile may be higher due to less stringent security controls. Network segmentation and access control measures should be reinforced to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation, while regular security audits should verify that privilege escalation mechanisms are properly enforced. Additionally, security awareness training should emphasize the importance of keeping endpoint security software updated and the risks associated with running outdated security solutions that may contain known vulnerabilities.