Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild High confidence Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2021-41653

TL-WR840N EU v5 router Remote Code Execution

TP-Link / TL-WR840N EU v5 router

Watch CVE-2021-41653 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
High
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
76.0%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2021-41653 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting TP-Link TL-WR840N EU v5 router. The PING function on the TP-Link TL-WR840N EU v5 router with firmware through TL-WR840N(EU)_V5_171211 is vulnerable to...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is high. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

TP-Link / TL-WR840N EU v5 router.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

TL-WR840N EU v5 router Remote Code Execution

The PING function on the TP-Link TL-WR840N EU v5 router with firmware through TL-WR840N(EU)_V5_171211 is vulnerable to remote code execution via a crafted payload in an IP address input field.

Published
13 Nov 2021
Exploitation Reported
08 Jul 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

nuclei_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

The Shadowserver

Recorded 08 Jul 2026

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 29 Nov 2021

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
The Shadowserver First 2025-09-18 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-41653.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

76.0%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') CWE-94

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 10.0 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

TP-Link - OS Command Injection

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 14:20 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  2. 00:00 UTC

    Added to Previdian KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  3. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  4. 14:18 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  5. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2021-41653

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2021-41653",
  "confidence": "High",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.76045,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}