CVE-2020-10972
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered where a page is exposed that has the current administrator password in cleartext in the source code of the page. No authentication is required in order to reach the page (a certain live_?.shtml page with the variable syspasswd). Affected Devices: Wavlink WN530HG4, Wavlink WN531G3, and Wavlink WN572HG3
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 · high confidenceAn information disclosure vulnerability in Wavlink routers exposes the administrator password in cleartext within the HTML source code of an unauthenticated page (live_?.shtml with syspasswd variable). Attackers can obtain full admin credentials without any authentication, enabling complete device compromise.
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= m30hg4.v5030.191116all versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the router model and firmware versionAccess the router admin interface or check the device label/metadata to determine if the device is a Wavlink Wn530hg4, Wn531g3, or Wn572hg3. Obtain the firmware version from the admin panel or via SNMP/telnet if available.Affected if The device is a Wavlink Wn530hg4 running firmware m30hg4.v5030.191116, or a Wn531g3 or Wn572hg3 of any firmware version.
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Verify the vulnerable unauthenticated endpoint existsAttempt to access the live_*.shtml page on the router's web interface without logging in. The exact filename may vary but follows the pattern live_[character].shtml.Affected if The page loads successfully without requiring authentication credentials.
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Inspect HTML source for syspasswd variableView the page source (right-click > View Page Source or use browser developer tools) and search for the string 'syspasswd' within the HTML.Affected if The syspasswd variable is present in the HTML source code.
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Check for cleartext password exposureWithin the page source, locate the syspasswd variable and examine its value. Look for patterns like syspasswd= or a JavaScript variable assignment containing a password string.Affected if The administrator password is displayed in cleartext (not hashed or obfuscated) within the HTML source of the unauthenticated page.
A user is affected if they own a Wavlink Wn530hg4 (firmware m30hg4.v5030.191116), Wn531g3, or Wn572hg3 router where the live_*.shtml page exposes the administrator password in cleartext HTML source without requiring authentication.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataRemove the cleartext password from the page source, implement proper authentication enforcement, and rotate exposed administrator credentials on all affected devices.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10972 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-10972 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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