CVE-2025-49212 is a critical security vulnerability identified in Trend Micro Endpoint Encryption Policy Server version 6.0. The vulnerability stems from the use of an obsolete function leading to insecure deserialization within the server's codebase. Insecure deserialization occurs when untrusted data is deserialized without sufficient validation, allowing attackers to manipulate serialized objects to execute arbitrary code. This specific flaw enables a remote attacker to perform pre-authentication remote code execution (RCE), meaning no credentials or prior access are required to exploit the vulnerability. The attacker can send specially crafted data to the vulnerable deserialization method, triggering execution of malicious payloads on the server. This vulnerability is related to CVE-2025-49220 but affects a different method within the same product, indicating multiple insecure deserialization points. The CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8 (critical) reflects the high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, combined with ease of exploitation (network vector, no privileges, no user interaction). The affected product, Trend Micro Endpoint Encryption Policy Server, is a critical component in enterprise environments responsible for managing encryption policies and keys, making it a high-value target. No patches or known exploits in the wild have been reported at the time of publication, but the severity demands immediate attention. The CWE-477 classification highlights the use of obsolete functions, which often lack modern security controls and can introduce vulnerabilities such as insecure deserialization.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability is significant due to the widespread use of Trend Micro Endpoint Encryption solutions in sectors requiring stringent data protection, such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure. Exploitation could lead to full compromise of the encryption policy server, allowing attackers to manipulate encryption keys, disable encryption policies, or exfiltrate sensitive data. This undermines data confidentiality and integrity, potentially violating GDPR and other data protection regulations, leading to legal and financial repercussions. Availability impacts could disrupt encryption management services, halting secure communications and data protection workflows. Given the pre-authentication nature, attackers could exploit this vulnerability remotely without insider access, increasing the risk of widespread attacks. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for mitigation, but the critical severity and ease of exploitation mean that threat actors may rapidly develop exploits. Organizations relying on this product for endpoint encryption management face elevated risks of ransomware, espionage, or data breach campaigns leveraging this vulnerability.

1. Immediate deployment of vendor patches or updates once available is paramount. Since no patches are currently listed, organizations should engage with Trend Micro support for interim mitigations or hotfixes. 2. Implement network-level protections by restricting access to the Endpoint Encryption Policy Server to trusted management networks only, using firewalls and network segmentation to limit exposure. 3. Employ intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS) with signatures or heuristics to detect anomalous deserialization attempts or suspicious network traffic targeting the server. 4. Conduct thorough logging and monitoring of all interactions with the Policy Server, focusing on unusual serialized data payloads or unexpected remote requests. 5. Review and harden server configurations to disable or limit deserialization functionality where possible, or apply application-layer controls to validate serialized inputs. 6. Prepare incident response plans specifically addressing potential exploitation scenarios involving encryption key compromise or policy manipulation. 7. Educate security teams about the nature of insecure deserialization attacks to improve detection and response capabilities. 8. Consider deploying application-layer firewalls or runtime application self-protection (RASP) technologies that can intercept and block malicious deserialization attempts in real time.