VulnerabilityPublished 3 Feb 2026Updated 4 Feb 2026

CVE-2026-0620: TP-Link Systems AXE75 · Protection Mechanism Failure

Affects TP-Link Systems AXE75Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.0 Medium : upgrade to <1.5.1 Build 20251202 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

6.0Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 19% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in <1.5.1 Build 20251202

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: Present
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Passive
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: Present: The successful attack depends on the presence of specific deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These include: a race condition must be won to successfully exploit the vulnerability (the successfulness of the attack is conditioned on execution conditions that are not under full control of the attacker, or the attack may need to be launched multiple times against a single target before being successful); the attacker must inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim (e.g. vulnerabilities requiring an on-path attacker).
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Passive: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires limited interaction by the targeted user with the vulnerable system and the attacker’s payload. These interactions would be considered involuntary and do not require that the user actively subvert protections built into the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 3 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade TP-Link Systems AXE75 to <1.5.1 Build 20251202.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
TP-Link Systems Inc.AXE75	Affected =0	Fixed in <1.5.1 Build 20251202

AI-suggested

Until an official patch is released by TP-Link, European organizations should implement the following mitigations: 1) Disable the L2TP VPN server functionality on the Archer AXE75 router if not strictly necessary. 2) If VPN services are required, configure the device to reject L2TP connections that do not use IPSec explicitly, if such configuration options exist. 3) Use alternative VPN solutions or hardware that enforce strong encryption and have no known vulnerabilities. 4) Monitor VPN logs for unusual connection attempts that may indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Educate users about the risks of connecting to VPNs that may not enforce encryption properly. 6) Network segmentation and use of additional encryption layers (e.g., TLS tunnels) can reduce exposure. 7) Regularly check for firmware updates from TP-Link and apply patches promptly once available. 8) Employ network intrusion detection systems to identify suspicious VPN traffic patterns. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on configuration hardening, user awareness, and layered security controls specific to this vulnerability.

Description

CVE-2026-0620 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting the TP-Link Archer AXE75 router when configured as an L2TP/IPSec VPN server. The device may accept L2TP connections without IPSec protection even if IPSec is enabled, allowing unencrypted VPN sessions. This flaw exposes data in transit, compromising confidentiality. Exploitation requires no privileges but does require user interaction to initiate a VPN connection. There are no known exploits in the wild yet. The vulnerability stems from a protection mechanism failure (CWE-693) in the VPN implementation. European organizations using this router model for VPN services are at risk of data interception. Mitigation involves disabling L2TP-only connections or applying vendor patches once available. Countries with high TP-Link market penetration and critical infrastructure relying on VPNs are most likely affected.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk of data exposure during remote access sessions, especially for entities relying on the TP-Link Archer AXE75 router for VPN services. Confidential information transmitted over the VPN could be intercepted by attackers positioned on the network path, such as malicious insiders, compromised routers, or attackers on public networks. This exposure could lead to data breaches, loss of intellectual property, or compromise of sensitive communications. Sectors with stringent data protection requirements, such as finance, healthcare, and government, are particularly vulnerable. The lack of encryption may also violate GDPR mandates on data security during transmission. Additionally, organizations using this device in critical infrastructure or industrial control systems could face operational risks if sensitive control commands or monitoring data are intercepted. Although the vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability directly, the confidentiality breach alone can have severe legal, financial, and reputational consequences.

Summary

CVE-2026-0620 identifies a protection mechanism failure (CWE-693) in the TP-Link Archer AXE75 V1 router's L2TP/IPSec VPN server implementation. Specifically, when configured to require IPSec protection, the device erroneously accepts L2TP connections without IPSec encryption. This means that VPN sessions can be established without the intended cryptographic safeguards, exposing transmitted data to interception or manipulation. The vulnerability arises from improper enforcement of IPSec requirements during the VPN handshake and session establishment phases. Attackers can exploit this by initiating an L2TP connection that bypasses IPSec, potentially capturing sensitive data such as credentials, internal communications, or other confidential information transmitted over the VPN. The CVSS 4.0 score of 6 (medium severity) reflects that the vulnerability is network exploitable without privileges but requires user interaction (i.e., a user must initiate the VPN connection). The impact is primarily on confidentiality, with no direct effect on integrity or availability. No known exploits have been reported in the wild, and no patches are currently available, indicating the need for proactive mitigation. This vulnerability is significant because VPNs are widely used to secure remote access, and a failure in encryption enforcement undermines the fundamental security guarantees of VPN technology.

CWE-693Protection Mechanism Failure (opens in a new tab)
Pillar weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Tracing (opens in a new tab)
Directory Indexing (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
Encryption Brute Forcing (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Feb 2026, 11:43 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-693

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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