Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-52030

Totolink A3700R Firmware 9.1.2u.5822_b20200513

Public PoC
Published
11 January 2024
Modified
14 May 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.015 73th percentile
Risk Priority 82 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-52030 is a critical-severity Execution with Unnecessary Privileges (CWE-250) vulnerability in Totolink A3700R Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 27% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

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 A3700R firmware version v9.1.2u.5822_B20200513 contains a remote command execution vulnerability in the setOpModeCfg function. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2023-52030 with a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, and no required privileges or user interaction.

An unauthenticated attacker with network access can invoke the affected function to execute arbitrary operating-system commands on the device. Successful exploitation grants full control over the router, enabling actions such as configuration changes, traffic interception, or use of the device as an internal network foothold.

Public references consist of a technical write-up that demonstrates the vulnerability through the setOpModeCfg endpoint; no vendor advisory or firmware patch information is included in the available sources. The EPSS score stands at 0.1482 with no material increase from its recorded peak.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

TOTOlink A3700R v9.1.2u.5822_B20200513 was discovered to contain a remote command execution (RCE) vulnerability via the setOpModeCfg function.

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-noinfoCWE-250

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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1055 Process Injection Stealth
Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-1143Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-37631Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-37640Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-37633Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-42545Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-37639Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-37635Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-37637Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-37632Same product: Totolink A3700R
CVE-2024-42543Same product: Totolink A3700R

Affected Assets

totolink
a3700r firmware
9.1.2u.5822_b20200513

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 6 hardening rules · 6 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V10.2.3
  • V13.2.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-6 Least Privilege good match

Least privilege directly requires that only the minimum necessary authorizations are granted, structurally eliminating execution with unnecessary privileges.

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.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

PR.AA-05 directly enforces least privilege so largely eliminates CWE-250 at design time, yet the weakness can still arise from runtime escalation paths, third-party code, or misapplied role definitions outside this single control.

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.5.18 Access rights mostly match
prevents

Requiring explicit justification and time-limited grants discourages the routine allocation of unnecessary privileges that would otherwise allow execution with more rights than required.

A.8.18 Use of privileged utility programs mostly match
prevents

Restricting privileged utilities to the fewest trusted users and requiring explicit authorization directly stops developers or operators from embedding or invoking code that runs with unnecessary elevated rights.

A.8.2 Privileged access rights mostly match
prevents

Mandating separate non-privileged identities for routine work and restricting privileged accounts to administrative tasks reduces the chance that everyday operations run with unnecessary elevated rights.

A.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
prevents

The control explicitly calls for minimizing privileged identities and disabling unnecessary accounts, thereby reducing the number of processes that run with unnecessary privileges.

A.5.15 Access control partial match
prevents

The requirement to restrict privileged access and apply segregation of duties limits the number of processes or accounts that must run with elevated rights, lowering the impact of unnecessary privilege assignments.

A.5.3 Segregation of duties partial match
mitigates

Forcing distinct roles for initiating versus executing changes reduces the chance that an individual will run with unnecessary privileges to perform both steps.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Windows 10 (1 rule)
  • V-220712 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows 11 (1 rule)
  • V-253269 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-225007 Only administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
  • V-205746 Windows Server 2019 must only allow Administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows Server 2022 (1 rule)
  • V-254428 Windows Server 2022 must only allow administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250

References