CVE-2023-1389
TP-Link Archer AX-21 Command Injection Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 22 May 2023). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
TP-Link Archer AX21 (AX1800) firmware versions before 1.1.4 Build 20230219 contained a command injection vulnerability in the country form of the /cgi-bin/luci;stok=/locale endpoint on the web management interface. Specifically, the country parameter of the write operation was not sanitized before being used in a call to popen(), allowing an unauthenticated attacker to inject commands, which would be run as root, with a simple POST request.
- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 100.00% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · first 10 August 2023
- CISA KEV
- Listed 1 May 2023 · due 22 May 2023
- Weakness
- CWE-77
- Affected
- tp-link/archer ax21 firmware
- Source
- vulnreport@tenable.com
EPSS 100.0% since 30 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/archer-ax21/v3/#Firmware; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-1389
Public exploits (1)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174131/TP-Link-Archer-AX21-Command-Injection.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2023-11Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174131/TP-Link-Archer-AX21-Command-Injection.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2023-11Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-1389US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.