Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2024-46549

HIGH · 7.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
79/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
An issue in the TP-Link MQTT Broker and API gateway of TP-Link Kasa KP125M v1.0.3 allows attackers to establish connections by impersonating devices owned by other users.

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

The TP-Link Kasa KP125M v1.0.3 has a broken access control vulnerability in its MQTT Broker and API gateway that allows cross-user device impersonation. Attackers can establish MQTT connections by spoofing device identities belonging to other users, bypassing proper authentication controls.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware update when available; until then, restrict network access to the device's management interface and monitor for unauthorized device connections.

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

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

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

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 the device model
    Check your network for a TP-Link Kasa KP125M smart plug. Access the device through the Kasa app or your router's device list to confirm the exact model number.
    Affected if The device is not a TP-Link Kasa KP125M, then this specific CVE does not apply.
  2. Check the installed firmware version
    In the Kasa app, select the KP125M device, go to Device Settings, then Firmware Update, or access the device's web interface if available. Record the firmware version shown.
    Affected if The firmware version is v1.0.3 or lower, meaning the device contains the vulnerable code.
  3. Verify if MQTT client functionality is enabled
    Access the device settings via the Kasa app or web interface. Look for MQTT-related configuration options under Device Settings, Cloud Settings, or Advanced settings. Check if the device is configured to connect to an external MQTT broker or if it acts as an MQTT broker.
    Affected if MQTT is enabled and the device exposes MQTT broker or API functionality to the network.
  4. Assess network exposure of the management interface
    Check your router or firewall rules to determine if the Kasa device's management port (typically port 9999 for Kasa devices or MQTT port 1883 if exposed) is accessible from outside your local network or from untrusted devices on the same network.
    Affected if The device management interface or MQTT port is reachable from untrusted network segments or the public internet.

You are affected if you own a TP-Link Kasa KP125M running firmware v1.0.3 or lower, have MQTT functionality enabled, and the device or its MQTT interface is accessible to potential attackers on your network.

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 vendor-supplied firmware update when available; until then, restrict network access to the device's management interface and monitor for unauthorized device connections.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-46549 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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