Threats / TP-Link / CVE-2020-24363
CVE-2020-24363
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
TP-Link TL-WA855RE vulnerability
TP-Link TL-WA855RE lacks authentication for factory reset functionality, allowing unauthenticated network-adjacent attackers to reset the device and set new administrative credentials.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An unauthenticated attacker on the same network can submit a TDDP_RESET request to trigger factory reset, then establish administrative access by setting a new password. This missing authentication control enables unauthorized device takeover.
CISA KEV Yes · 2025-09-024EPSS 0.20689 (verify live)5CVSS 8.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
3 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 2025-09-02).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.20689 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 8.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: TP-Link, TL-WA855RE. 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-306 Missing Authentication — weakness family: Authentication.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: no · 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 1828 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.
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 send an unauthenticated TDDP_RESET POST request to the target device on the local network.
Business
The device is reset to factory defaults without any authorization check, removing existing security configurations.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I set a new administrative password during or after the factory reset process.
Business
The attacker gains full administrative control of the access point, compromising network security and user data.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I use administrative access to modify network settings, intercept traffic, or deploy malicious configurations.
Business
Connected devices and users experience compromised network integrity, potential data exfiltration, and loss of confidentiality.
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