Fast Facts

• Two high-severity command injection flaws affect Tenda N300 4G03 Pro routers.
• No security patches or vendor fixes are available as of this writing.
• Attackers with access can run any command as root, gaining full control of the device.
• Vulnerabilities tracked as CVE-2025-13207 and CVE-2024-24481, both scoring 8.8/10 in severity.
• CERT/CC urges users to replace or limit use of affected routers until fixes arrive.

The Portable Router with a Hidden Risk

Picture a portable Wi-Fi router - no bigger than a deck of cards - plugged in at a busy airport lounge, a disaster relief site, or a remote work camp. For thousands worldwide, devices like the Tenda N300 4G03 Pro are silent workhorses, bridging people to the cloud with a quick SIM card swap. But beneath their plastic shells, a silent threat has been lurking, recently brought to light by security researcher Ax and the analysts at CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC).

Root Cause: A Command Injection Double Whammy

At the heart of this drama are two critical vulnerabilities - think of them as secret passageways left unguarded in the software’s walls. Both hinge on “command injection,” a type of flaw where an attacker can trick the router into treating malicious input as trusted instructions. In both cases, an attacker who’s logged into the router (even with basic credentials) can send carefully crafted messages to special doors (TCP ports 80 and 7329) and convince the router to run any command they wish, with the highest “root” privileges.

The first flaw, CVE-2025-13207, affects firmware up to v04.03.01.44 and lets attackers exploit the router’s web server. The second, CVE-2024-24481, targets an internal function accessible through the web interface on older firmware (up to v04.03.01.14). Both vulnerabilities are rated 8.8 out of 10 on the CVSS scale - a strong signal of “drop everything and fix this now.”

Déjà Vu: A Pattern of IoT Weakness

This isn’t the first time consumer routers have been caught with their shields down. In 2017, the infamous Mirai botnet swept the globe, hijacking hundreds of thousands of unsecured routers and smart devices to launch massive cyberattacks. Tenda, along with other manufacturers, has faced scrutiny for lagging in patching vulnerabilities. The lack of a fix here is especially worrying: with no official patch, users are left to fend for themselves.

These vulnerabilities could let criminals intercept web traffic, steal credentials, plant backdoors, or use the router as a launchpad for wider attacks - potentially affecting not just home users, but field workers, activists, and organizations in high-risk regions. The global reach of these portable routers makes the impact hard to contain.

What Should Users Do?

CERT/CC’s advice is blunt: if you depend on these routers in sensitive environments, switch to a different device until Tenda delivers a patch. Where replacement isn’t possible, minimize use and keep a close eye on Tenda’s security advisories. In today’s connected world, the weakest link isn’t always the one you see - it’s often the invisible gatekeeper sitting quietly at your network’s edge.

WIKICROOK

• Command Injection: Command Injection is a vulnerability where attackers trick systems into running unauthorized commands by inserting malicious input into user fields or interfaces.
• Root Privileges: Root privileges are the highest access rights on a system, allowing complete control over all functions, settings, and data. Reserved for trusted users.
• Firmware: Firmware is specialized software stored in hardware devices, managing their core operations and security, and enabling them to function properly.
• CVSS Score: A CVSS Score rates the severity of security vulnerabilities from 0 to 10, with higher numbers indicating greater risk and urgency for response.
• Botnet: A botnet is a network of infected devices remotely controlled by cybercriminals, often used to launch large-scale attacks or steal sensitive data.