Devices in the Linksys ESeries line of routers (Linksys E1200 Firmware Version 2.0.09 and Linksys E2500 Firmware Version 3.0.04) are suscep…

published 2018-10-17 8 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2018-15739

cvss: 7.2; version 3.0, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 13.5%; EPSS 13.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 96%
public exploits: 2; Metasploit

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.

Timeline

2013-02-05 First public exploit (Metasploit auxiliary/admin/http/linksys_e1500_e2500_exec)
2018-10-17 Published

Exploit prediction

13.51% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 96% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

Metasploit auxiliary/admin/http/linksys_e1500_e2500_exec Linksys E1500/E2500 Remote Command Execution metasploit auxiliary, normal rank, 2013-02-05
Metasploit exploit/linux/http/linksys_e1500_apply_exec Linksys E1500/E2500 apply.cgi Remote Command Injection metasploit exploit, excellent rank, 2013-02-05
talosintelligence.com https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2018-0625 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.0	7.2	CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	3.1	7.2	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	2.0	9.0	AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

Affected products

Linksys ESeries E1200
Linksys ESeries E2500

Classification

Weakness

CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command

References

talosintelligence.com /vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2018-0625
exploit, third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2018-3953
NVD CVE-2018-3953

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary