CVE-2023-50224
TP-Link TL-WR841N dropbearpwd Improper Authentication Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of TP-Link TL-WR841N routers. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the httpd service, which listens on TCP port 80 by default. The issue results from improper authentication. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to disclose stored credentials, leading to further compromise. Was ZDI-CAN-19899.
do firstUpgrade to a fixed release: V2_241108, V4_201030, V5_201030, V11_211209 (+2 more below).
Can a WAF block it? No. The attack does not come over the network, so a WAF is not on its path. Patching is the reliable fix.
Also consider: patch
Based on the weakness type only; no CVE-specific evidence yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Is CVE-2023-50224 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2023-50224 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2023-50224?
CVE-2023-50224 is rated Medium with a CVSS score of 6.5. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2023-50224?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2023-50224. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2023-50224 affect?
CVE-2023-50224 affects tp-link:tl-wr841n_firmware, tp-link:mr6400_firmware, tp-link:tl-wdr3600_firmware, tp-link:tl-wdr4300_firmware, and 26 further products or versions. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
- affectedV2
- affectedV2
- affectedV3
- affectedV2
- affectedV3
- affectedV4
- affectedV1
- affectedV2
- affectedV3
- affectedV4
- affectedV3
- affectedV4
- affectedV5
- affectedV2
- affectedV2
- affectedV1
- affectedV2
- affectedV3
- affectedV4
- affectedRU V2
- affectedV4
- affectedV5
- affectedV6
- affectedV7
- affectedV4
- affectedV5
- affectedV6
- affectedBR 6.0
- affectedBR 7.0
- affectedV2
- affectedV3
- affected3.16.9 build 200409
- affectedV8
- affectedV9
- affectedV10
- affectedV11
- affectedV12
- affectedV8
- affectedV9
- affectedV10
- affectedV11
- affectedV12
- affectedV2
- affectedV3
- affectedV4
- affectedV2
- affectedV3
- affectedV4
- affectedV1
- affectedV2
- affectedV5
- affectedV6
- affectedV1
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.
cisa ssvc
- exploitation
- active
- automatable
- no
- technical impact
- partial
Assessed by CISA 3 Sept 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3).
timeline
- 3 May 2024Published
- 3 Sept 2025Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild) · 488 days (about 1 year) later
- 3 Sept 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active · same day later
- 24 Sept 2025CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies) · 21 days later
- 2 Sept 2026CVE record last updated · 344 days (about 11 months) later
- 2 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · 61 days (about 2 months) later
- Advisoryzerodayinitiative.com /advisories/ZDI-23-1808/
- Advisorytp-link.com /en/support/download/tl-wr841n/v12/#Firmware
- Advisorytp-link.com /us/support/faq/5058/
- Linkcisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-50224
sources
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.