CVE-2013-10050 D-Link CVE debrief

Who should care

Network administrators managing legacy D-Link infrastructure, security teams responsible for embedded device security, organizations with remote office or branch locations using consumer-grade routing equipment, and incident response teams investigating potential router compromises

Technical summary

The vulnerability exists in the tools_vct.xgi CGI endpoint used for diagnostic functions. The pingIp parameter passes user input directly to a shell command without proper sanitization, allowing command separator injection. Successful exploitation requires valid administrative credentials but grants root-level access to the underlying Linux-based operating system. The Mathopd/1.5p6 web server implementation fails to implement adequate input validation for this parameter.

Defensive priority

critical

Recommended defensive actions

• Immediately inventory all D-Link DIR-300 and DIR-615 devices in your environment and verify firmware versions against affected releases (DIR-300 firmware ≤1.05, DIR-615 firmware ≤4.13)
• Replace affected end-of-life devices with actively supported router hardware from vendors providing security updates
• If immediate replacement is not feasible, restrict administrative access to the web interface by implementing network segmentation and IP allowlisting
• Monitor for unauthorized telnet daemon processes or unexpected network listeners on affected devices
• Review authentication logs for the tools_vct.xgi endpoint for anomalous pingIp parameter values containing shell metacharacters
• Implement egress filtering to prevent compromised devices from establishing outbound connections to attacker-controlled infrastructure
• Consider deploying network intrusion detection signatures for known exploitation patterns targeting D-Link router administrative interfaces

Evidence notes

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-78 (OS Command Injection). Multiple exploit implementations exist in public repositories. The CVSS 4.0 vector indicates network attack vector with low attack complexity, low privileges required, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Official resources