CVE-2024-46434
Published: 10 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-46434 is a high-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability in Tenda W18E Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 43.2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-46434 is an authentication bypass vulnerability affecting the Tenda W18E router running firmware version V16.01.0.8(1625). The flaw resides in the web management portal, where an unauthorized remote attacker can bypass authentication controls by sending a specially crafted HTTP request, granting full administrative access to the device.
The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-287 (Improper Authentication). An attacker with adjacent network access (e.g., on the same local network segment) requires no privileges or user interaction to exploit it. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to achieve high-impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromises, such as modifying device configurations, extracting sensitive data, or disrupting network operations.
Details on the vulnerability, including exploitation techniques, are documented in the advisory published by Redda Solutions at https://reddassolutions.com/blog/tenda_w18e_security_research. No specific patches or vendor mitigations are detailed in available information.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-5040
Vulnerability details
Tenda W18E V16.01.0.8(1625) suffers from authentication bypass in the web management portal allowing an unauthorized remote attacker to gain administrative access by sending a specially crafted HTTP request.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Auth bypass in web management portal directly enables exploitation of the exposed interface for initial admin access.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 mandates enforcement of approved authorizations for access to system resources, directly countering authentication bypass in the web management portal.
IA-2 requires identification and authentication of organizational users before network access, preventing unauthorized administrative login via crafted HTTP requests.
AC-14 prohibits sensitive functions like administrative access without identification and authentication, mitigating bypass vulnerabilities in management interfaces.