Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-65220

Memory Safety in Tenda Ac21 Firmware 16.03.08.16

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
20 November 2025
Modified
21 November 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 4.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0024 15th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-65220 is a medium-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Tenda Ac21 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 4.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 15th 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 map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Tenda AC21 V16.03.08.16 is vulnerable to Buffer Overflow in: /goform/SetVirtualServerCfg via the list parameter.

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.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
Why these techniques?

Buffer overflow vulnerability in the Tenda AC21 router's web interface (/goform/SetVirtualServerCfg) enables remote code execution or denial of service via exploitation of a public-facing application and remote services.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-65222Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2025-65221Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2025-13445Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2025-65223Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2025-13446Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2026-1637Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2026-2148Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2025-9605Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2025-11091Same product: Tenda Ac21
CVE-2025-10838Same product: Tenda Ac21

Affected Assets

tenda
ac21 firmware
16.03.08.16

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces validation of the 'list' parameter in /goform/SetVirtualServerCfg to block oversized input that triggers the stack buffer overflow.

prevent

Requires timely patching or firmware updates to eliminate the CWE-121 flaw in SetVirtualServerCfg before exploitation.

prevent

Implements memory protections (e.g., stack canaries, ASLR) that reduce the likelihood of successful code execution from the overflow.

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 prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

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.

detects

Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

none

Change-management gates can enforce security reviews that catch buffer issues.

References