What is CVE-2019-16920?

CVE-2019-16920 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Dlink Dap-1533, classified under OS Command Injection. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2019-09-27.

How severe is CVE-2019-16920?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2019-16920 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2019-16920 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-25), indicating it is being actively exploited. 42 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

RCE in Dlink Dap-1533

CVE-2019-16920

Unauthenticated remote code execution occurs in D-Link products such as DIR-655C, DIR-866L, DIR-652, and DHP-1565. The issue occurs when the attacker sends an arbitrary input to a "PingTest" device common gateway interface that could lead to common injection. An attacker who successfully triggers the command injection could achieve full system compromise. Later, it was independently found that these are also affected: DIR-855L, DAP-1533, DIR-862L, DIR-615, DIR-835, and DIR-825.

Vulnerability class: Command Injection (OS Command Injection)

Published 2019-09-27 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 1.000 (100.0th percentile), scored 2026-09-02.

Very high probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — among the top 0.1% most-likely-to-be-exploited CVEs. 100th percentile — 100.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

The 30-day trend appears once there are two daily scores.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-78 — OS Command Injection

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2022-03-25. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2022-04-15.

Required action: The impacted product is end-of-life and should be disconnected if still in use.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

fortiguard.com/zeroday/FG-VD-19-117 (Third Party Advisory, Broken Link)
www.seebug.org/vuldb/ssvid-98079 (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
medium.com/@80vul/determine-the-device-model-affected-by-cve-2019-16920-by-zoom… (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/766427 (US Government Resource, Third Party Advisory, third-party-advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-16920?: CVE-2019-16920 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Dlink Dap-1533, classified under OS Command Injection. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2019-09-27.
How severe is CVE-2019-16920?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2019-16920 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2019-16920 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-25), indicating it is being actively exploited. 42 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.