Overview
In the digital world of today, vulnerabilities can be a gateway for hackers to infiltrate systems, manipulate data, and cause widespread damage. One such vulnerability has been discovered in the D-Link DIR-513 1.0, a popular networking device. The vulnerability, tagged as CVE-2025-8159, poses a serious threat due to its ability to be exploited remotely and its potential to compromise the entire system or leak data.
The vulnerability affects the HTTP POST Request Handler component, specifically the function formLanguageChange. It has been rated as critical and can be exploited by manipulating the ‘curTime’ argument, leading to a stack-based buffer overflow, a common type of security issue where improper handling of memory can lead to arbitrary code execution or crash the system.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-8159
Severity: Critical (CVSS 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
D-Link DIR-513 | 1.0
How the Exploit Works
The exploit works by sending a specially crafted HTTP POST request to the “/goform/formLanguageChange” endpoint of the affected device. The ‘curTime’ argument is manipulated with excessive data, causing a buffer overflow in the system stack. This overflow can potentially overwrite important system data or even execute arbitrary code, leading to system compromise or data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
This conceptual example demonstrates how a malicious HTTP POST request could potentially start the exploit process. It’s important to note that this is for educational purposes only and is not representative of an actual exploit code.
POST /goform/formLanguageChange HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
curTime=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...In this example, the value of ‘curTime’ is filled with an excessive amount of data, which the system fails to handle properly, causing a buffer overflow.
Recommended Mitigation
The manufacturer no longer supports the affected product, thus no official patch is available. However, users can mitigate this vulnerability by employing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) that can detect and prevent such buffer overflow attacks. Users are also advised to replace their devices with newer, supported models that are regularly updated to patch potential vulnerabilities.