dbcve.org
Ac1750 FirmwareOperating system · Tp Link

CVE-2020-10888

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to bypass authentication on affected installations of TP-Link Archer A7 Firmware Ver: 190726 AC1750 routers. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the handling of SSH port forwarding requests during initial setup. The issue results from the lack of proper authentication prior to establishing SSH port forwarding rules. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges to resources normally protected from the WAN interface. Was ZDI-CAN-9664.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

This CVE is an authentication bypass vulnerability in TP-Link Archer A7 routers (firmware 190726) affecting the SSH port forwarding functionality during initial setup. The flaw allows remote attackers from the WAN to establish SSH port forwarding rules without any authentication, effectively bypassing the router's security controls and gaining access to internal resources.

MitigationApply the vendor firmware update when available; as an interim control, disable remote management/access from the WAN interface or ensure the router is not directly exposed to the internet.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Ac1750 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 190726

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify router model
    Check the device label on the router or log into the admin panel (typically at 192.168.0.1) to confirm the model is TP-Link Archer A7 (AC1750)
    Affected if Router model is TP-Link Archer A7 or AC1750 variant
  2. Check installed firmware version
    In the router admin panel, navigate to Status or System Tools > Firmware Upgrade to view the current firmware version. Alternatively, access the router via SSH/telnet and run the command 'nvram get fw_version' or check via 'tpcli get info' if available
    Affected if Firmware version equals 190726 (or is an earlier unpatched build)
  3. Verify SSH port forwarding availability
    In the router admin panel, go to Advanced > NAT Forwarding > Virtual Servers or Port Forwarding. Check if SSH (port 22) port forwarding rules can be configured without authentication or if the SSH service is exposed
    Affected if SSH port forwarding rules can be created or modified from the WAN interface without requiring router admin authentication
  4. Test WAN-side remote management exposure
    Access your public IP address from an external network (or use an online port scanner) to see if the router's admin interface or SSH service is reachable on WAN-facing ports. Check if remote management is enabled in Advanced > Security > Remote Management
    Affected if Router admin interface or SSH service is accessible from the WAN without VPN or authentication

You are affected if you have a TP-Link Archer A7/AC1750 router running firmware version 190726 with remote management or SSH port forwarding exposed to the WAN interface.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor firmware update when available; as an interim control, disable remote management/access from the WAN interface or ensure the router is not directly exposed to the internet.

Fix this in Ac1750 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $2,000
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10888 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-10888 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data