Overview
In this post, we will be discussing a serious security vulnerability that has been identified in the Wavlink WL-WN530H4 product, with CVE ID CVE-2025-44868. This vulnerability is of particular concern as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted request, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
The vulnerability affects the Wavlink WL-WN530H4 version 20220801 and has a significant severity score of 9.8 according to the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). The command injection vulnerability could potentially impact a wide range of Wavlink devices, making it a crucial issue for cybersecurity professionals and system administrators to address.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-44868
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 9.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise, Data leakage
Affected Products
No phone number, email, or personal info required.
Product | Affected Versions
Wavlink WL-WN530H4 | 20220801
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability lies within the ping_test function of the adm.cgi in the Wavlink WL-WN530H4. Specifically, the vulnerability occurs due to insufficient sanitization of the ‘pingIp’ parameter, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary commands. These commands are then executed with root privileges on the underlying system.
This essentially means that an attacker can execute any command of their choosing, which opens up a multitude of potential harmful actions, including system compromise and data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This example demonstrates a malicious HTTP POST request to the vulnerable endpoint.
POST /adm.cgi HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
ping_test=1&pingIp=;cat /etc/passwd
In this example, the `pingIp` parameter is being abused to inject a command (`cat /etc/passwd`) which would dump the contents of the passwd file, potentially revealing sensitive information.
Mitigation
Until a patch is released by the vendor, the recommended mitigation strategy is to use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability. These systems should be configured to monitor for suspicious POST requests to the /adm.cgi endpoint and to sanitize the ‘pingIp’ parameter.
It’s worth mentioning that while this mitigation would provide a level of protection, it is not a complete fix. The only surefire way to close this vulnerability is to apply the official vendor patch once it becomes available.