Threats / D-Link / CVE-2018-6530
CVE-2018-6530
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
D-Link Multiple Routers vulnerability
Multiple D-Link routers contain an OS command injection vulnerability enabling remote code execution. The flaw has been actively exploited in the wild and leveraged in ransomware campaigns.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
This vulnerability poses critical risk due to high exploitability, active weaponization, and ransomware deployment. Affected D-Link router users face immediate compromise of network perimeter security and potential lateral movement into internal systems.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-09-084Ransomware use Flagged4EPSS 0.96682 (verify live)5CVSS 9.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total3Exploit Public PoC / detection · nuclei template12
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
497 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-09-08), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.96682 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 9.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: D-Link, Multiple Routers. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-78 OS Command Injection — weakness family: Injection.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 1647 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a public proof-of-concept / detection template). Catalog entries: nuclei template. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I identify and probe D-Link routers for command injection entry points to establish initial network access.
Business
Network perimeter is compromised, enabling attacker presence at the gateway.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I execute arbitrary OS commands on the compromised router to establish persistence and pivot deeper into the network.
Business
Attacker gains persistent foothold with potential to move laterally toward internal assets and data.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I deploy ransomware payloads or data exfiltration tools across the compromised network infrastructure.
Business
Operations are disrupted by encryption or data theft; recovery costs and ransom demands materialize.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05