Workaround to remove the Microsoft Teams old version at WindowsApps folder

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Issue Summary

During our analysis, we identified that multiple versions of Microsoft Teams may coexist on the same machine after upgrading to the new Teams application.

Microsoft Teams (Work or School): Updated correctly to the latest version 25227.203.3915.2444.
Microsoft Teams (Old Version): Previous versions are not removed automatically by Microsoft after upgrade.
- Example: 23119.303.2080.2726
- Or version is less than 25122.1415.3698.6812

These old versions remain under the path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MicrosoftTeams_<version>

We detect these versions as vulnerable and flags them under:

NVD: CVE-2025-53783

Root Cause

Microsoft upgrade process does not consistently remove legacy Teams folders from WindowsApps.
This leads to outdated binaries being present and detected as vulnerable.

Temporary Workaround

A script has been prepared to mitigate the issue by moving old Teams folders.

Steps:

Create the script (in the .bat file format) using this

@echo off SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION :: Path to WindowsApps set "WINAPPS=C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" :: Loop through folders starting with MicrosoftTeams or microsoftTeams for /d %%F in ("%WINAPPS%\MicrosoftTeams*") do ( :: Take ownership takeown /f "%%F" /r /d y >nul 2>&1 :: Grant full control to current user icacls "%%F" /grant %username%:F /t >nul 2>&1 :: Delete folder rmdir /s /q "%%F" >nul 2>&1 ) :: End silently EXIT /B

Run the script with Administrator privileges.
- The script will only move old Microsoft Teams version folders.
Recheck compliance status from the tray icon

⚠️ Note: This is a temporary workaround and should not be considered a permanent fix.

Next Steps

We are currently working to support an additional method to uninstall directly from MetaDefender Endpoint as an alternative to the current workaround.

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