Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-54887

Memory Safety in Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N Firmware ≤ 3.16.9

Published
09 January 2025
Modified
05 July 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 8.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.054 92th percentile
Risk Priority 66 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-54887 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N. Its CVSS base score is 8.0 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 8% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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.

CVE-2024-54887 is a buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-120) in TP-Link TL-WR940N V3 and V4 routers running firmware version 3.16.9 and earlier. The flaw occurs in the handling of the dnsserver1 and dnsserver2 parameters on the /userRpm/Wan6to4TunnelCfgRpm.htm webpage, which can be triggered to overwrite memory boundaries.

An attacker with low privileges (PR:L) who is adjacent to the device on the network (AV:A) can exploit this with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution in the context of the root user, granting high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CVSS:3.1 score of 8.0).

Advisories and additional details are referenced at http://tp-link.com and https://github.com/JBince/vulnerability-research/tree/main/CVE-2024-54887, which include vulnerability research and likely mitigation guidance from the vendor.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

TP-Link TL-WR940N V3 and V4 with firmware 3.16.9 and earlier contain a buffer overflow via the dnsserver1 and dnsserver2 parameters at /userRpm/Wan6to4TunnelCfgRpm.htm. This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on the remote device in the context of…

more

the root user.

CWE(s)

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.
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.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-36355Same product: Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N
CVE-2025-6151Same product: Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N
CVE-2023-36359Same product: Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N
CVE-2023-36354Same product: Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N
CVE-2023-36358Same product: Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N
CVE-2026-11409Same product: Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N
CVE-2026-11410Same product: Tp-Link Tl-Wr940N
CVE-2025-25900Same vendor: Tp-Link
CVE-2026-15314Same vendor: Tp-Link
CVE-2024-48712Same vendor: Tp-Link

Affected Assets

tp-link
tl-wr940n firmware
≤ 3.16.9

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and analysis can find missing size checks before deployment.

Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.

Engineering principles require bounds checking and safe buffer handling in design.

Memory protection limits the impact of an overflow once it occurs.

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.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

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.

prevents

Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify input-size validation and safe buffer handling to mitigate classic buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding patterns that reduce the likelihood of unchecked buffer copies.

References