CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2023-40146 — A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the /bin/login functionality of Peplink Smart Reader v1.2.0 (in QEMU)
Critical
CVSS 9.8
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the /bin/login functionality of Peplink Smart Reader v1.2.0 (in QEMU). A specially crafted command line argument can lead to a limited-shell escape and elevated capabilities. An attacker can authenticate with hard-coded credentials and execute unblocked default busybox functionality to trigger this vulnerability.
- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Published
- 2024-04-17
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- operating-system
- Weaknesses
- CWE-77, CWE-798
Affected products
- peplink / smart_reader_firmware / 1.2.0
Matched remediation archetype
Command, code, expression, and template injection
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
- Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
- Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.
Remediate safely
- Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
- Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
- Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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