# CVE-2023-1389: TP-Link Archer AX-21 Command Injection Vulnerability

- Exploited (CISA KEV): yes, added 2023-05-01
- Published: 2023-03-15
- CVSS: 8.8 HIGH (v3.1)
- EPSS: 100.0% (100th percentile)
- CWE: CWE-77

TP-Link Archer AX21 (AX1800) firmware versions before 1.1.4 Build 20230219 contained a command injection vulnerability in the country form of the /cgi-bin/luci;stok=/locale endpoint on the web management interface. Specifically, the country parameter of the write operation was not sanitized before being used in a call to popen(), allowing an unauthenticated attacker to inject commands, which would be run as root, with a simple POST request.

## Edge WAF coverage (claimed by vendors, not measured)

| Vendor | Status | First rule | Days after publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Before feed history | — | — |
| AWS | No public claim | — | — |
| Microsoft Azure | No public claim | — | — |
| Google Cloud | Before feed history | — | — |
| Fastly | Before feed history | — | — |
| F5 | No public claim | — | — |
| Akamai | No public source | — | — |
| OWASP CRS | No public claim | — | — |

## Our test (measured)

- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 1, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: blocked (2 of 2 requests blocked), template CVE-2023-1389, 2026-11-02
- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 2, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: blocked (2 of 2 requests blocked), template CVE-2023-1389, 2026-11-02

"No public claim" means no vendor statement names this CVE; "Before feed history" means the CVE is older than the vendor feed. In both cases generic rules may still block it.

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