CVE-2023-46456
Gl-Inet Gl-Ar300M Firmware 3.216
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-2023-46456 is a critical-severity Injection (CWE-74) vulnerability in Gl-Inet Gl-Ar300M Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2023-46456 is a command injection vulnerability (CWE-74) affecting GL.iNET GL-AR300M routers running firmware version 3.216. The flaw resides in the OpenVPN client file upload functionality and permits injection of arbitrary shell commands. It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, and no required privileges or user interaction.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can supply a malicious OpenVPN configuration file to the affected device and thereby execute arbitrary commands on the underlying system. Successful exploitation grants complete control over the router, enabling full read/write access to device resources and disruption of availability.
Public references consist of a technical disclosure at cyberaz0r.info and the vendor site at gl-inet.com; administrators should review those sources for any available firmware updates or configuration guidance. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.1395 with no material increase since publication.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-50672
Vulnerability Data
In GL.iNET GL-AR300M routers with firmware 3.216 it is possible to inject arbitrary shell commands through the OpenVPN client file upload functionality.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Developer assessments and testing (including injection-focused techniques) identify improper neutralization of special elements, and the verifiable flaw remediation corrects them pre-deployment.
Identifies indicators of injection attacks (command, SQL, LDAP, etc.) via anomaly and attack monitoring.
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.
Logging supports detection of injection attempts but does not prevent the weakness.
Monitoring activities can identify active injection attacks after they occur.
A.8.25 mandates a secure SDLC process that includes secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training to reduce injection flaws, but does not itself enforce or guarantee neutralization of special elements at runtime.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection attacks in software design.
A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (including distrust external input, data validation/sanitization, secure architecture layers, and design reviews against attack patterns) that reach injection when applied to output construction; this stops exploitation for a minority slice (e.g. where principles drive sanitization) but leaves most code-level injection defects untouched without further implementation rigor.
Secure coding standards require proper neutralization of special elements, directly addressing CWE-74.
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-74, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.