CVE-2023-27346
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 · uneditedTP-Link AX1800 Firmware Parsing Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of TP-Link AX1800 routers. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of firmware images. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of root. . Was ZDI-CAN-19703.
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 confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in TP-Link AX1800 firmware parsing. The flaw lacks proper validation of user-supplied data length before copying to a fixed-size stack buffer, allowing network-adjacent attackers to achieve root-level code execution without authentication.
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= 1.1.1CVSS 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:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify device modelLog into the TP-Link router admin interface or check the device label to confirm the model is Archer AX21 or AX1800Affected if Model is Archer AX21 or AX1800
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Check firmware versionNavigate to the router admin panel (typically at 192.168.0.1), go to Administration > Firmware Upgrade, or use the TP-Link Tether app to view the current firmware versionAffected if Firmware version is 1.1.1
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Assess network exposureDetermine if the router management interface is accessible from the WAN or untrusted networks. Check router firewall settings and port forwarding rules for external access to HTTP/HTTPS management ports (80, 443)Affected if Router management interface is exposed to network-adjacent attackers without proper access controls
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Verify vulnerable service statusInspect which services are listening on the router. From a connected client, use nmap or similar tool to scan the router IP for open management ports. The vulnerability exists in the firmware parsing componentAffected if Router is accessible on the network with management services exposed to untrusted users
User is affected if they have a TP-Link Archer AX21 or AX1800 device running firmware version 1.1.1 that is accessible to network-adjacent attackers.
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 dataApply TP-Link vendor firmware updates when available. Until then, restrict network access to trusted users and monitor for indicators of compromise.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-27346 — 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-2023-27346 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data