CVE-2023-50224
Exploited in the wild. In CISA KEV since 2025‑09‑03. A vendor fix is available.
What to do
The vendor has published a fix. Version details are below where the sources state them.
What it is
From the CVE record
TP-Link TL-WR841N dropbearpwd Improper Authentication Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of TP-Link TL-WR841N routers. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the httpd service, which listens on TCP port 80 by default. The issue results from improper authentication. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to disclose stored credentials, leading to further compromise. Was ZDI-CAN-19899.
In plain language
No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.
Exploitation
Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.
- CISA KEV
Listed as exploited in the wild since 2025-09-03.
US federal agencies must remediate by 2025-09-24.
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- Public exploits
No public exploit or proof of concept found in the sources we track.
- EPSS
16% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 97th percentile of scored CVEs.
Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.
Lifecycle
11 events over 853 days, from the signal feeds we watch.
- Patch availablerecord updated
- Patch availablerecord updated
- EPSS band changelow → moderate
- Patch availablerecord updated
- Added to CISA KEV
- Publishedweakness classified, att&ck mapped
Affected products
- TL-WR841NNetworking Infrastructure
- TL-WR841NDNetworking Infrastructure
- TL-MR6400Networking Infrastructure / router-switch
- Archer C5Networking Infrastructure
- Archer C7Networking Infrastructure
- TL-WDR3600Networking Infrastructure / router-switch
- TL-WDR4300Networking Infrastructure
- TL-WDR3500Networking Infrastructure / router-switch
And 50 more affected products. See all after sign-in
Technical detail
CVSS 3.1 vector
Open in the CVSS calculatorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Scored 6.5 by NVD.
How it is reached
- Attack Vector AdjacentRequires access to the local network (e.g. same Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)
- Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
- Privileges Required NoneNo authentication required — anyone can exploit this
- User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation
Scope
- Scope UnchangedImpact is limited to the vulnerable component itself
Impact if exploited
- Confidentiality HighTotal information disclosure — all data in the component is compromised
- Integrity NoneNo integrity impact
- Availability NoneNo availability impact
Weaknesses
ATT&CK techniques
Mapped from the weaknesses above (CWE to ATT&CK), not observed in attacks.
- Initial AccessT1078Valid Accountsmedium confidence
Sources
References in the record
- zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-23-1808/
- tp-link.com/en/support/download/tl-wr841n/v12/
- tp-link.com/us/support/faq/5058/
And 2 more references. See all after sign-in
In the news
Watch the software you run.
My Stack ranks new CVEs for your products by real-world exploitation, so the next exploited one reaches you without reading every advisory.
We'll flag the next CVE, public exploit or patch for TL-WR841N, not every advisory. This one: actively exploited.
A free account adds
- The full version matrix and every affected product
- Exploit links, proofs of concept and Metasploit modules
- Email alerts for the products you watch
- The same data over REST API, MCP and CLI