Overview
The cybersecurity landscape is a minefield of vulnerabilities, each with the potential to wreak havoc if not properly addressed. One such vulnerability, discovered in the D-Link DIR-513 1.10, poses a significant threat to out-of-support products. The vulnerability is cataloged under the identifier CVE-2025-8168 and has been given a critical severity rating. This is due to its potential for remote exploitation, leading to system compromise or data leakage. It is crucial for all users and system administrators of affected products to understand the risks associated with this vulnerability and take immediate action to mitigate its potential impact.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-8168
Severity: Critical (CVSS Score: 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 | 1.10
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability arises from a buffer overflow condition within the websAspInit function of the /goform/formSetWanPPPoE file. Specifically, the manipulation of the ‘curTime’ argument can lead to this overflow. Buffer overflows occur when more data is written into a buffer than it can handle, leading to the corruption of adjacent memory spaces. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be remotely exploited, offering an attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
Conceptual Example Code
To provide a basic understanding of how this vulnerability might be exploited, consider the following conceptual HTTP request. This is not an actual exploit, but rather a demonstration of how the ‘curTime’ argument could be manipulated to trigger a buffer overflow.
POST /goform/formSetWanPPPoE HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
curTime=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...In this example, the ‘curTime’ argument is overfilled with the letter ‘A’, which could potentially cause a buffer overflow in systems vulnerable to CVE-2025-8168.
Mitigation Guidance
To protect against this vulnerability, it is recommended to apply the vendor-supplied patch. In cases where this is not possible, such as when products are no longer supported by the manufacturer, deploying a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can offer temporary mitigation. These solutions can help detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, they should not be considered a long-term solution. Users and system administrators are strongly urged to update or replace affected products as soon as possible to ensure the security of their networks.