Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-14655

Memory Safety in Tenda Ac20 Firmware 16.03.08.12

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
14 December 2025
Modified
24 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 7.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.033 87th percentile
Risk Priority 42 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-14655 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Tenda Ac20 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.4 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 13% 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 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-2025-14655 is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability affecting the Tenda AC20 router running firmware version 16.03.08.12. The flaw resides in the formSetRebootTimer function within the /goform/SetSysAutoRebbotCfg file of the httpd component, where manipulation of the rebootTime argument triggers the overflow.

Remote attackers with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. According to the CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), successful exploitation enables high-impact consequences on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially leading to remote code execution.

Advisories and details are documented on VulDB (ctiid.336388, id.336388, submit.712910), with a public exploit released on GitHub at https://github.com/Madgeaaaaa/MY_VULN_2/blob/main/Tenda/VULN13/AC20_SetSysAutoRebbotCfg.md. The Tenda vendor website (https://www.tenda.com.cn/) provides general product information, but specific patch or mitigation guidance is not detailed in the referenced sources.

The exploit's public availability heightens the risk for unpatched Tenda AC20 devices. The vulnerability is associated with CWEs-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer), CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow), and CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write).

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A security flaw has been discovered in Tenda AC20 16.03.08.12. The impacted element is the function formSetRebootTimer of the file /goform/SetSysAutoRebbotCfg of the component httpd. Performing a manipulation of the argument rebootTime results in stack-based buffer overflow. The attack is…

more

possible to be carried out remotely. The exploit has been released to the public and may be used for attacks.

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.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
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-2025-9791Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-14654Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-9088Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-9089Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-9046Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-8131Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-8810Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-9087Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-11385Same product: Tenda Ac20
CVE-2025-8939Same product: Tenda Ac20

Affected Assets

tenda
ac20 firmware
16.03.08.12

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V17.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Secure engineering principles require memory-safe design and coding that structurally avoids buffer-boundary violations.

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 SDLC practices (bounds checking, safe APIs, reviews) directly prevent this class of flaw.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis directly surface buffer-boundary flaws.

ID.RA-08 partial match
prevents

Receiving and triaging vulnerability disclosures commonly includes buffer-related reports.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Developer training on secure coding reduces introduction of memory-buffer errors.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching replaces vulnerable code containing buffer-boundary defects.

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.

finds

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates memory-safety practices that directly prevent buffer-boundary violations.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safe design patterns that mitigate buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

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).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121

References