Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-61944

Memory Safety in Tp-Link Archer Ax53 Firmware 1.0

Memory Safety
Published
03 February 2026
Modified
16 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/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 0.0040 34th percentile
Risk Priority 24 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-61944 is a high-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Tp-Link Archer Ax53 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 34th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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-2025-61944 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-122) in the tmpserver modules of the TP-Link Archer AX53 v1.0 router. It affects versions through 1.3.1 Build 20241120 and has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.0 (AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). The flaw arises when processing a specially crafted network packet containing an excessive number of fields with zero-length values, leading to potential memory corruption.

Authenticated attackers on the adjacent network (AV:A) with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability with low complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation may cause a segmentation fault, resulting in a denial of service, or potentially allow arbitrary code execution with high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H).

Mitigation details are available in vendor advisories and reports. TP-Link provides updated firmware for the Archer AX53 v1.0 on regional support download pages, such as those for the US and Malaysia. Talos Intelligence's vulnerability report TALOS-2025-2288 offers technical analysis, and a related FAQ on TP-Link's site addresses firmware updates. Security practitioners should apply the latest firmware to vulnerable devices.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability in TP-Link Archer AX53 v1.0 (tmpserver modules) allows authenticated adjacent attackers to cause a segmentation fault or potentially execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted network packet containing an excessive number of fields with zero‑length values.This…

more

issue affects Archer AX53 v1.0: through 1.3.1 Build 20241120.

CWE(s)
CWE-122

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 →
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 →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
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 →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-58077Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-58455Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-62673Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-62405Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-62404Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-59487Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-61983Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-59482Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2025-15608Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53
CVE-2026-30814Same product: Tp-Link Archer Ax53

Affected Assets

tp-link
archer ax53 firmware
1.0

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)
  • V1.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and memory-error detectors) can discover heap overflows after they have been coded.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation enforces bounds checking on data written to heap buffers, directly stopping the overflow condition from being introduced.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability of a heap overflow to execute attacker-controlled code or corrupt adjacent structures.

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 full match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.

A.8.32 Change management none match
none

Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.

References