CVE-2026-102816 in RE305
Summary
by MITRE • 10/27/2026
An authorization vulnerability exists in the country or region configuration interface of TP-Link RE305 V3. An unauthenticated attacker on the same local network may modify the wireless regulatory region and force the device to reapply its wireless configuration.
Successful exploitation may cause wireless connection interruptions, unavailable channels, client disconnections, or wireless service instability, and may cause the device to apply parameters intended for a different regulatory region.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/27/2026
The vulnerability identified in TP-Link RE305 V3 represents a critical failure in access control mechanisms within the device's web-based management interface. Specifically, this flaw resides in the configuration endpoint responsible for setting the country or wireless regulatory domain. The core technical deficiency is an absence of authentication requirements for this specific administrative function. While many other sensitive configuration parameters on these devices require valid session credentials to be modified, the API endpoint handling regional settings allows any actor with network-level access to send a request and alter the device's operational profile without providing a username or password. This design oversight effectively bypasses the intended security boundary between unauthenticated users and administrative controls, allowing an attacker who is connected to the same local area network as the repeater to interact directly with this configuration module.
From a technical perspective, the exploitation of this vulnerability involves sending a crafted HTTP request to the device's internal IP address targeting the region configuration parameter. By changing the value from its default setting to that of another regulatory domain, such as switching from United States (FCC) regulations to European Union (ETSI) or other regional standards, the attacker forces the firmware to reinitialize its wireless subsystem with incompatible parameters for the local environment. This action triggers a reboot or a service restart within the device's operating system to apply the new radio frequency rules. The lack of session validation means that no audit trail is generated in terms of user identity, and there are no rate-limiting protections specifically tailored to prevent rapid successive changes to this critical setting by an external actor on the LAN segment.
The operational impact of successfully exploiting this authorization flaw extends beyond simple configuration tampering. By forcing the device to apply wireless parameters intended for a different regulatory region, the attacker can induce significant instability in the local network infrastructure. This includes causing immediate wireless connection interruptions and client disconnections as the access point attempts to switch channels or transmit power levels that may be illegal or technically incompatible with existing hardware constraints. In some cases, this misconfiguration leads to unavailable channels where the device cannot establish a stable link due to regulatory restrictions on frequency bands. Furthermore, if the new region's parameters conflict with local interference patterns or legal transmission limits, it can result in persistent wireless service instability, effectively creating a denial of service condition for legitimate users connected to the repeater without requiring any malicious payload delivery beyond this configuration change.
This vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-269, which describes Improper Privilege Control, as an unauthenticated actor is able to perform actions that should be restricted to authenticated administrators. Additionally, it maps to ATT&CK technique T1548.003, Abuse Configuration: Misconfiguration, where the attacker exploits a system configuration error to achieve their objectives. The ability to alter regulatory settings also touches upon CWE-798, Use of Hard-coded Credentials or Default Settings in some contexts if the default region is assumed safe, but primarily it highlights a fundamental flaw in input validation and access control logic within the web server component of the firmware.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary solution is to apply any available firmware updates released by TP-Link that patch this specific authorization bypass, as vendors typically address such high-severity flaws in subsequent releases if no hotfix exists. In environments where updating is not immediately feasible, network segmentation should be employed to restrict access to the management interface of IoT devices like repeaters from general user LAN segments. Implementing VLANs or firewall rules that isolate these devices from untrusted local networks can prevent unauthorized actors from reaching the vulnerable endpoint. Additionally, administrators should ensure that default credentials are changed and that administrative interfaces are not exposed to broader network zones without additional authentication layers such as certificate-based client authentication or multi-factor authentication at the gateway level.