CVE-2023-36953
RCE in Totolink Cp300\+ Firmware 5.2cu.7594_b20200910
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-36953 is a critical-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Totolink Cp300\+ Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 26% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
TOTOLINK CP300+ routers running firmware V5.2cu.7594_B20200910 and earlier contain a command-injection vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-36953. The flaw is classified under CWE-77 and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8, reflecting network-accessible, unauthenticated exploitation that can fully compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
An attacker with no credentials can send specially crafted requests over the network to execute arbitrary operating-system commands on the device. Successful exploitation grants the attacker complete control of the router, enabling actions such as traffic interception, configuration changes, or use of the device as a pivot point into attached networks.
Public references consist of technical write-ups on GitHub that demonstrate the injection vector; no vendor advisory or firmware patch is referenced in the available sources. The EPSS score rose sharply from a low baseline to a peak of 0.5106 in January 2025 before receding to its current value of 0.0336, indicating a period of heightened exploitation interest after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-40873
Vulnerability Data
TOTOLINK CP300+ V5.2cu.7594_B20200910 and before is vulnerable to command injection.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices including secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training that reduce command injection defects, but leaves a minority slice (e.g. incomplete implementation of those practices, outsourced development without full assurance, or post-SDLC changes) where the weakness can still arise and be exploitable.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.
A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. distrust external input, secure session control, data validation/sanitization, least privilege) and design reviews that can stop command injection from being introduced, but this is only a minority slice of CWE-77 because the weakness can still arise in code that bypasses those principles, in non-reviewed components, or in runtime injection vectors the architecture review does not reach.
Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.
Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-77, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.