The enhanced uninstall pattern integrity checking will be implemented starting with the following updates:
- Apex One as a Service: July 2023 Maintenance
- Apex One On-premise: August 2023 On-Premise Patch Release
After these new updates are deployed, Apex One Security Agents will verify the enhanced uninstall pattern with a corresponding signature file before loading to ensure it has not been tampered with or otherwise modified.
If the signature file is absent or does not match the expected result, the Apex One Security Agent installation will not proceed.
Important notes for this change depending on current customer use case:
- User is using default uninstall pattern (non-customized). The upcoming patch will update the uninstall pattern to the latest build along with the signature file.
- User is using a blank/empty pattern (disabling all 3rd party uninstall). The upcoming patch will update the uninstall pattern with a blank pattern along with the signature file. 3rd party uninstall will remain disabled for this environment.
- User is using a customized pattern without the signature file. The upcoming patch will overwrite the current pattern with latest build along with the signature file.
- User is using a customized pattern with the signature file. The upcoming patch will not overwrite the current pattern.
Recommendations:
- Users using customized patterns are advised to contact Trend Micro Support to generate the corresponding signature file.
- To minimize potential impacts, users are advised to make a backup of their Apex One Security Agent install packages prior receiving/deploying the new builds with this enhancement.
- Verify the new agent package before performing bulk installations to avoid unexpected 3rd party uninstall results.
If the new agent package has any issues, please contact Trend Micro Technical Support. User can use the backup installers as workaround.