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Full vulnerability report · 2018
CVE-2018-3953High confidence

Linksys ESeries E1200: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

Linksys · ESeries E1200

7.2HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Within 7 days

High technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityHighOperational priority:Critical, raised one band.upgradedsince 17 Sep 2024

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
  • EPSS is 13.51% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Linksys ESeries E1200 and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2018-15739

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

High technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

Devices in the Linksys ESeries line of routers (Linksys E1200 Firmware Version 2.0.09 and Linksys E2500 Firmware Version 3.0.04) are susceptible to OS command injection vulnerabilities due to improper filtering of data passed to and retrieved from NVRAM. Data entered into the 'Router Name' input field through the web portal is submitted to apply.cgi as the value to the 'machine_name' POST parameter. When the 'preinit' binary receives the SIGHUP signal, it enters a code path that continues until it reaches offset 0x0042B5C4 in the 'start_lltd' function. Within the 'start_lltd' function, a 'nvram_get' call is used to obtain the value of the user-controlled 'machine_name' NVRAM entry. This value is then entered directly into a command intended to write the host name to a file and subsequently executed.

What

Devices in the Linksys ESeries line of routers (Linksys E1200 Firmware Version 2.0.09 and Linksys E2500 Firmware Version 3.0.04) are susceptible to OS command injection vulnerabilities due to improper filtering of data passed to and retrieved from NVRAM. Data entered into the 'Router Name' input field through the web portal is submitted to apply.cgi as the value to the 'machine_name' POST parameter. When the 'preinit' binary receives the SIGHUP signal, it enters a code path that continues until it reaches offset 0x0042B5C4 in the 'start_lltd' function. Within the 'start_lltd' function, a 'nvram_get' call is used to obtain the value of the user-controlled 'machine_name' NVRAM entry. This value is then entered directly into a command intended to write the host name to a file and subsequently executed.

Why

Untrusted input is incorporated into an operating-system command without safe parameter handling.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

Devices in the Linksys ESeries line of routers (Linksys E1200 Firmware Version 2.0.09 and Linksys E2500 Firmware Version 3.0.04) are susceptible to OS command injection vulnerabilities due to improper filtering of data passed to and retrieved from NVRAM. Data entered into the 'Router Name' input field through the web portal is submitted to apply.cgi as the value to the 'machine_name' POST parameter. When the 'preinit' binary receives the SIGHUP signal, it enters a code path that continues until it reaches offset 0x0042B5C4 in the 'start_lltd' function. Within the 'start_lltd' function, a 'nvram_get' call is used to obtain the value of the user-controlled 'machine_name' NVRAM entry. This value is then entered directly into a command intended to write the host name to a file and subsequently executed.

Why

Untrusted input is incorporated into an operating-system command without safe parameter handling.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Reference recorded

A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.

Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
High: elevated access is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-78 ↗

CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection'). The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkCWE-78Public exploit reference
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2018-013728Linksys E1200 ファームウェアおよび Linksys E2500 ファームウェアにおける OS コマンドインジェクションの脆弱性

Linksys E1200 ファームウェアおよび Linksys E2500 ファームウェアには、OS コマンドインジェクションの脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
  • ESeries E1200: Firmware Version 2.0.09
  • ESeries E2500: Firmware Version 3.0.04
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 17 Oct 2018 · Last source change 17 Sept 2024, 02:10 UTC · CWE-78 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2018-15739
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2018-15739 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.
    Before
    not recorded
    After
    {"euvdId":"EUVD-2018-15739"}
    ENISA EUVD ↗
  2. Public exploit evidencePublic exploit evidence changed from No public exploit to Public exploit reference.
    Before
    No public exploit
    After
    Public exploit reference
    talosintelligence.com ↗
  3. CVSS scoreCVSS version changed from 3.0 to 3.1; the displayed base score remains 7.2.
    Before
    7.2 (CVSS 3.0 · CNA · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    After
    7.2 (CVSS 3.1 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    NIST NVD ↗
  4. Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2018-15739↗Public exploit reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2018-3953 · cve.blacktree.nl