dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 22 May 2023.
Archer Ax21 FirmwareOperating system · Tp Link

CVE-2023-1389

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.1.4 or later.
See remediation →
99/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit 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
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.

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 confidence

Command injection vulnerability in TP-Link Archer AX21 (AX1800) web management interface allows unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary OS commands via an unsanitized country parameter in POST requests to the /cgi-bin/luci;stok=/locale endpoint. The parameter is passed directly to popen() without sanitization, allowing commands to execute with root privileges.

MitigationApply vendor firmware version 1.1.4 Build 20230219 or later; if immediate patching is not feasible, disable or restrict access to the web management interface from untrusted networks.

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
Archer Ax21 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.1.4

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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. Confirm device is TP-Link Archer AX21
    Check the device label or access the web management interface and look for the model number (Archer AX21 or AX1800) in the status or system information page.
    Affected if Device is not a TP-Link Archer AX21 (AX1800)
  2. Check installed firmware version
    Access the router's web management interface, go to Administration > Firmware Upgrade or System > System Log, and note the firmware version displayed. Alternatively, check the TP-Link tether app or the device's label for firmware version.
    Affected if Firmware version is lower than 1.1.4 Build 20230219
  3. Verify web management interface accessibility
    Confirm the router's web management interface (HTTP/HTTPS on ports 80 or 443) is accessible from the network segment being assessed. Check router settings under Administration > System > Remote Management to see if the web interface is enabled.
    Affected if Web management interface is disabled and not accessible from the network

The device is affected if it is a TP-Link Archer AX21 running firmware version below 1.1.4 and its web management interface is accessible.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.1.4 or later
Fixed in 1.1.4
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor firmware version 1.1.4 Build 20230219 or later; if immediate patching is not feasible, disable or restrict access to the web management interface from untrusted networks.

Recommended fix High confidence

TP-Link Archer AX21 Firmware version 1.1.4 (Build 20230219)

  1. Download the latest firmware version 1.1.4 (Build 20230219 or later) from the official TP-Link support website for the Archer AX21 (AX1800)
  2. Access the router's web management interface via a browser
  3. Navigate to the Administration > Firmware Upgrade section
  4. Upload the downloaded firmware file and initiate the upgrade process
  5. Wait for the upgrade to complete and the router to reboot
  6. Verify the firmware version has been updated to 1.1.4 or later

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Archer Ax21 Firmware Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-1389 — 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-2023-1389 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