Credential disclosure via httpd strcmp timing
Published Jan 11, 2023 · Updated Nov 4, 2025
Timing side channel in TP-Link Archer C5 V2_160221_US and TL-WR710N V1-151022 allows remote attackers to recover HTTP credentials. The httpd credential check uses strcmp, whose response time varies with matching username and password bytes, exposing a deterministic byte-by-byte oracle. Network access to HTTP Basic Authentication is sufficient; the disclosed consequence is recovery of the router username and password.
Summary
What happened
Timing side channel in TP-Link Archer C5 V2_160221_US and TL-WR710N V1-151022 allows remote attackers to recover HTTP credentials. The httpd credential check uses strcmp, whose response time varies with matching username and password bytes, exposing a deterministic byte-by-byte oracle. Network access to HTTP Basic Authentication is sufficient; the disclosed consequence is recovery of the router username and password.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-4499
- Published
- Jan 11, 2023
- Updated
- Nov 4, 2025
- Vendor
- TP-Link
- Product
- Archer C5
- Classifications
- CWE-203, T1110
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 11, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 4, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=V2_160221_US
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo