Wavlink WN575A4 and WN579X3 are dual-band wireless routers designed for home and small office use, providing high-speed internet, guest network access, and parental controls. They are popular for their affordability and ease of setup, making them common in residential and small business environments.
CVE-2020-13117 is a critical command injection vulnerability that arises from insufficient input sanitization in the router's login mechanism. The key parameter in login requests is passed directly to system-level commands without proper validation, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary OS commands.
Specifically, the vulnerability exists in the login endpoint where the key parameter is processed. An unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted HTTP POST request to the router's login page, injecting commands via the key field, which are then executed with root privileges on the device.
Successful exploitation grants full remote control of the router, enabling attackers to monitor traffic, steal credentials, modify DNS settings, or use the device as a pivot for further network attacks. This can lead to data breaches, network compromise, and loss of privacy.
- Update firmware to the latest version provided by Wavlink to patch the command injection flaw.
- Disable remote administration (WAN-side access) to prevent external exploitation.
- Change default login credentials to a strong, unique password with alphanumeric and special characters.
- Enable WPA2 or WPA3 encryption on Wi-Fi networks to limit local attack surface.
- Restrict access to the router's management interface to trusted IP addresses only.
- Monitor router logs for unusual login attempts or unexpected command execution.
- Implement network segmentation to isolate the router from critical systems.
- Use a web application firewall (WAF) to filter malicious payloads targeting the login endpoint.
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