CVE-2015-3035
HIGHCVE-2015-3035 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in tp-link archer c5 firmware. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-25) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. O3 Security detects and blocks CVE-2015-3035 exploitation at runtime via eBPF exploit-chain detection and L7 egress monitoring, even on unpatched systems.
Directory traversal vulnerability in TP-LINK Archer C5 (1.2) with firmware before 150317, C7 (2.0) with firmware before 150304, and C8 (1.0) with firmware before 150316, Archer C9 (1.0),…
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-25. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-04-15.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2015-3035.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2015-3035 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 370,894 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Description
Directory traversal vulnerability in TP-LINK Archer C5 (1.2) with firmware before 150317, C7 (2.0) with firmware before 150304, and C8 (1.0) with firmware before 150316, Archer C9 (1.0), TL-WDR3500 (1.0), TL-WDR3600 (1.0), and TL-WDR4300 (1.0) with firmware before 150302, TL-WR740N (5.0) and TL-WR741ND (5.0) with firmware before 150312, and TL-WR841N (9.0), TL-WR841N (10.0), TL-WR841ND (9.0), and TL-WR841ND (10.0) with firmware before 150310 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a .. (dot dot) in the PATH_INFO to login/.
Affected Products
archer c5 firmwaretp-linkarcher c7 firmwaretp-linkarcher c8 firmwaretp-linkarcher c9 firmwaretp-linktl-wdr3500 firmwaretp-linktl-wdr3600 firmwaretp-linkDetection & mitigation playbook
Vendor / applianceDetect
Inventory every tp-link archer c5 firmware deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above. Because the exploit targets the running system rather than your application code, also watch for exploitation at the network and runtime layer — O3 flags the exploit behaviour from runtime telemetry and egress traffic even before a vulnerable build is confirmed.
Fix
Apply the tp-link archer c5 firmware security patch or hotfix for CVE-2015-3035 on the affected version, following the vendor advisory for your exact build.
Workarounds
Cut exposure now: restrict the management/admin interface to trusted networks, segment the device, and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations and any WAF/IPS signature. O3's runtime protection blocks the exploit chain at execution, holding the line on unpatched or end-of-life systems until you can patch.
How O3 protects you
O3 detects and blocks CVE-2015-3035 exploitation at runtime: eBPF exploit-chain detection, plus L7 egress monitoring that catches the post-exploitation callback and severs the attacker's outbound channel.
Tailored to CVE-2015-3035. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2015-3035 being exploited in your environment?
O3's eBPF runtime sensors and L7 egress monitoring detect and block the CVE-2015-3035 exploit chain at execution — protecting unpatched and end-of-life systems until the vendor patch is applied.