Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-27359

Race Condition in Tp-Link Archer Ax21 Firmware 1.1.1

Published
03 May 2024
Modified
06 August 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 8.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.012 64th percentile
Risk Priority 63 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-27359 is a high-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) vulnerability in Tp-Link Archer Ax21 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 36% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-39 (Process Isolation) and SC-4 (Information in Shared System Resources) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

TP-Link AX1800 hotplugd Firewall Rule Race Condition Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to gain access to LAN-side services on affected installations of TP-Link Archer AX21 routers. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within…

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the hotplugd daemon. The issue results from firewall rule handling that allows an attacker access to resources that should be available to the LAN interface only. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the root user. . Was ZDI-CAN-19664.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-27332Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax21
CVE-2023-27346Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax21
CVE-2023-27333Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax21
CVE-2023-31710Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax21
CVE-2023-1389Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax21
CVE-2024-54120Shared CWE-362
CVE-2025-38108Shared CWE-362
CVE-2026-20617Shared CWE-362
CVE-2026-40943Shared CWE-362
CVE-2025-62218Shared CWE-362

Affected Assets

tp-link
archer ax21 firmware
1.1.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V10.4.2
  • V10.4.5
  • V15.1.3
  • V15.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Maintaining separate execution domains for each process structurally eliminates unintended concurrent access to the same shared resources.

Preventing unintended information transfer through shared system resources directly addresses the improper concurrent modification that defines a race condition.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper synchronization primitives and concurrency testing that prevent race conditions.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect race conditions, but does not prevent them at design or coding time.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates concurrency controls and synchronization primitives that directly prevent race conditions.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify thread-safety and locking rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require proper synchronization and resource isolation, addressing the root cause of CWE-362.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe concurrent access patterns and mandate atomic operations or locks.

none

Change management reduces introduction of concurrency bugs during updates, yet does not address the weakness itself.

References