CVEs / CVE-2023-1389

CVE-2023-1389: TP-Link Archer AX-21 Command Injection Vulnerability

Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 1 May 2023
high 8.8 CVSS 3.1 (NVD)
EPSS 99.9% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
Last changed at its sources 17 Jun 2026

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Summary

TP-Link Archer AX-21 contains a command injection vulnerability that allows for remote code execution.
CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

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.
The CVE record, via NVD · published 15 Mar 2023 · NVD status: Analyzed

Affected and fixed versions

As stated by the CVE record (from the CNA)
Product	Affected	Fixed in
n/a TP-Link Archer AX21 (AX1800)	All versions prior to version 1.14 Build 20230219	—

Exploitation

In CISA KEV since	1 May 2023
Due date for US federal agencies	22 May 2023
Used in ransomware campaigns	Unknown
Required action	Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Severity

CVSS 3.1	8.8 high `CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Scored by NVD
Weakness	CWE-77

References

CVE-2023-1389 on NVD
CVE-2023-1389 in the CISA KEV catalog
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/archer-ax21/v3/#Firmware (cited by CISA)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174131/TP-Link-Archer-AX21-Command-Injection.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2023-11 Exploit, Third Party Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-1389 US Government Resource

Sources

Exploitation status from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EPSS scores from FIRST. Descriptions, severity and references from the National Vulnerability Database. Open-source package versions from OSV (CC-BY 4.0). Text is shown as each source states it; Stackurity does not edit it. Check the vendor's advisory before acting.

This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.