Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-3613

Memory Safety in Wavlink Wl-Nu516U1 Firmware m16u1_v240425

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
06 March 2026
Modified
10 March 2026
CVSS Score v4 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/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 0.0071 50th percentile
Risk Priority 29 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-3613 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Wavlink Wl-Nu516U1 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 50% 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-2026-3613 is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the Wavlink WL-NU516U1 router firmware version V240425. The flaw affects the sub_401A0C function within the /cgi-bin/login.cgi component, triggered by manipulation of the ipaddr argument. Associated with CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer) and CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow), it was published on 2026-03-06 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

The vulnerability enables remote exploitation by an attacker possessing high privileges on the target system. Successful exploitation can result in high-impact compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or system crashes. A public exploit is available, as detailed in a GitHub repository, which may facilitate attacks against vulnerable devices.

Advisories from VulDB (ctiid.349221, id.349221, submit.755341) and the referenced GitHub proof-of-concept confirm the remote attack vector and public disclosure of the exploit. The vendor was contacted early regarding the issue, though no specific patches or mitigations are outlined in these sources. Security practitioners should monitor for firmware updates and restrict access to the affected login.cgi endpoint.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability was identified in Wavlink WL-NU516U1 V240425. This vulnerability affects the function sub_401A0C of the file /cgi-bin/login.cgi. Such manipulation of the argument ipaddr leads to stack-based buffer overflow. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploit is…

more

publicly available and might be used. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure.

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.
T1055 Process Injection Stealth
Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-4861Same product: Wavlink Wl-Nu516U1
CVE-2026-2565Same product: Wavlink Wl-Nu516U1
CVE-2026-2567Same product: Wavlink Wl-Nu516U1
CVE-2026-3715Same vendor: Wavlink
CVE-2026-5004Same vendor: Wavlink
CVE-2024-39359Same vendor: Wavlink
CVE-2024-39603Same vendor: Wavlink
CVE-2024-36493Same vendor: Wavlink
CVE-2024-39357Same vendor: Wavlink
CVE-2024-36258Same vendor: Wavlink

Affected Assets

wavlink
wl-nu516u1 firmware
m16u1_v240425

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.

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.

none

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

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