CVE-2023-40146 Privilege escalation in Smart Reader

Medium 6.8 Published 17 Apr 2024 Updated 4 Nov 2025

An attacker with hard-coded credentials can escape a limited shell to gain elevated capabilities on Peplink Smart Reader devices.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2023-40146?

CVE-2023-40146 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Peplink Smart Reader, published on 17 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the /bin/login functionality of Peplink Smart Reader v1.2.0 (in QEMU). A specially crafted command line argument can lead to a limited-shell escape and elevated capabilities. An attacker can authenticate with hard-coded credentials and execute unblocked default busybox functionality to trigger this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-798, CWE-77

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40146?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Peplink Smart Reader Firmware.

How do I fix CVE-2023-40146?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-40146 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2023-40146 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-40146 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-rgm2-gvmf-vqr7.