Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/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:XSummary
CVE-2026-0918 is a high-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Tp-Link Tapo C220 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked at the 49th 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 SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — 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-2026-0918 is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability (CWE-476) in the HTTP service of TP-Link Tapo C220 v1 and C520WS v2 cameras. The service does not safely handle POST requests with an excessively large Content-Length header, resulting in a failed memory allocation that triggers the dereference and crashes the main service process. Published on 2026-01-27 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), it poses a high availability risk without impacting confidentiality or integrity.
An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the vulnerability remotely over the network by sending a POST request with an oversized Content-Length header, causing an immediate crash of the main service process and temporary denial of service. The affected camera automatically restarts following the crash, but an attacker can repeat the requests to sustain unavailability indefinitely.
TP-Link provides firmware download pages for the Tapo C220 v1, C520WS v2, and related models like C100 v5 and C220 v1.60, indicating patches are available for mitigation. Further technical details on the vulnerability and discovery are documented in the security research post at crac-learning.com/post/smart-home-security-research-cve-2026-0918-assigned.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-4792
Vulnerability Data
The Tapo C220 v1 and C520WS v2 cameras’ HTTP service does not safely handle POST requests containing an excessively large Content-Length header. The resulting failed memory allocation triggers a NULL pointer dereference, causing the main service process to crash. An…
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unauthenticated attacker can repeatedly crash the service, causing temporary denial of service. The device restarts automatically, and repeated requests can keep it unavailable.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) directly finds null-dereference bugs before deployment.
Documented development standards and tools can enforce null-safety rules and safe pointer usage.
Engineering principles can mandate defensive coding such as explicit null checks before dereference.
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.
Secure SDLC practices (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.
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.
Security testing can detect NULL dereference defects before release.
Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.
Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.
Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.
Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.