CVE-2026-13538
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 · uneditedA vulnerability was determined in Wavlink WL-NU516U1-A M16U1_V240425. The affected element is the function sub_401D68 of the file /cgi-bin/wireless.cgi of the component POST Parameter Handler. This manipulation of the argument SSID2G2/SSID5G2/AuthMethod2/WPAPSK12 causes command injection. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. The exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be utilized. The affected component should be upgraded. The vendor was contacted early, responded in a very professional manner and quickly released a fixed version of the affected product.
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 confidenceCommand injection vulnerability in Wavlink WL-NU516U1-A wireless.cgi. The POST parameter handler function sub_401D68 fails to sanitize inputs in SSID2G2, SSID5G2, AuthMethod2, and WPAPSK12 parameters before passing them to system commands, allowing remote authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands.
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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify device modelAccess the router web interface (typically at 192.168.1.1) and check the status or system info page for the model number WL-NU516U1-A, or inspect the device label on the hardware itselfAffected if The device is a Wavlink WL-NU516U1-A model
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Check firmware versionLog into the router web interface and navigate to Administration > Firmware Upgrade or System > Firmware version to view the installed firmware buildAffected if The firmware version cannot be compared to a fixed release (no patched version specified in CVE details)
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Verify wireless.cgi endpoint existsCheck if the router web interface responds to requests at the wireless.cgi endpoint (typically under /cgi-bin/wireless.cgi)Affected if The wireless.cgi endpoint is present and responds to HTTP requests
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Confirm remote administration is enabledLog into the router and check the WAN access settings under Administration > Remote Management or similar. Verify if the web interface is accessible from WAN IP addressesAffected if Remote management/WAN access is enabled, exposing the web interface to the internet
The device is affected if it is a Wavlink WL-NU516U1-A with the wireless.cgi interface exposed to untrusted networks, allowing authenticated attackers to inject commands via the SSID2G2, SSID5G2, AuthMethod2, or WPAPSK12 POST parameters.
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 dataUpgrade to the fixed firmware version released by Wavlink. Until patched, restrict access to the device's web management interface to trusted IPs only and disable remote administration if not required.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-13538 — 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-2026-13538 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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