Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-6612

MediumPublic PoC

Published: 08 December 2023

Published
08 December 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.1381 94.5th percentile
Risk Priority 19 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-6612 is a medium-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Totolink X5000R Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 5.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis

A vulnerability rated critical exists in the Totolink X5000R firmware version 9.1.0cu.2300_B20230112. Multiple functions within /cgi-bin/cstecgi.cgi, including setDdnsCfg, setDynamicRoute, setFirewallType, setIPSecCfg and numerous other set*Cfg handlers, accept unsanitized input that results in operating system command injection, as indicated by CWE-78. The issue was publicly disclosed with proof-of-concept material but received no vendor response.

An attacker with local network access and valid credentials can invoke the affected CGI endpoints to execute arbitrary commands on the device. Successful exploitation grants limited control over configuration and system behavior, corresponding to the CVSS vector AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L.

Public references consist of a GitHub repository containing exploit details and VulDB entries that record the disclosure timeline; no patches or mitigation guidance are provided in these sources. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.1381 with no material increase since publication.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

A vulnerability was found in Totolink X5000R 9.1.0cu.2300_B20230112. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function setDdnsCfg/setDynamicRoute/setFirewallType/setIPSecCfg/setIpPortFilterRules/setLancfg/setLoginPasswordCfg/setMacFilterRules/setMtknatCfg/setNetworkConfig/setPortForwardRules/setRemoteCfg/setSSServer/setScheduleCfg/setSmartQosCfg/setStaticDhcpRules/setStaticRoute/setVpnAccountCfg/setVpnPassCfg/setVpnUser/setWiFiAclAddConfig/setWiFiEasyGuestCfg/setWiFiGuestCfg/setWiFiRepeaterConfig/setWiFiScheduleCfg/setWizardCfg of the file /cgi-bin/cstecgi.cgi. The manipulation leads to os command injection. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and…

more

may be used. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-247247. NOTE: The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

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.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1202 Indirect Command Execution Stealth
Adversaries may abuse utilities that allow for command execution to bypass security restrictions that limit the use of command-line interpreters.
Why these techniques?

OS command injection (CWE-78) in public-facing router CGI endpoints (/cgi-bin/cstecgi.cgi) enables T1190 (exploit public-facing web application), T1059.004 (Unix shell execution via injection), and T1202 (indirect command execution), as explicitly mapped in VulDB advisory.

Affected Assets

totolink
x5000r firmware
9.1.0cu.2300_b20230112

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.

addresses: CWE-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

References