Is CVE-2019-16920 actively exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks CVE-2019-16920 as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

What exploitation activity has KEV Intelligence observed?

KEV Intelligence has not yet recorded sensor-observed exploitation attempts for CVE-2019-16920. Our sensors continue to monitor for activity targeting this CVE.

Which versions are affected?

Version-level data is not available; KEV Intelligence tracks D-Link DIR-655C and 9 other products.

Yes. CVE-2019-16920 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2019-16920

DIR-655C Remote Code Execution

D-Link / DIR-655C

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Severity: CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence: Confirmed
Exploit status: Exploited in the wild
EPSS: 100.0%
First observed: —
Last observed: —

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2019-16920 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting D-Link DIR-655C and 9 other products. Unauthenticated remote code execution occurs in D-Link products such as DIR-655C, DIR-866L, DIR-652, and DHP-1565. The...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

D-Link / DIR-655C.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Unauthenticated remote code execution occurs in D-Link products such as DIR-655C, DIR-866L, DIR-652, and DHP-1565

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.

View vendor advisory

Published: 27 Sep 2019
Exploitation Reported: 25 Mar 2022
Attack vector: Remote
Complexity: Low
Privileges: None
User interaction: None

CVE References

CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-16920
VU#766427 kb.cert.org · Third-Party Advisory https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/766427
fortiguard.com/zeroday/FG-VD-19-117 fortiguard.com · CVE Record https://fortiguard.com/zeroday/FG-VD-19-117
seebug.org/vuldb/ssvid-98079 seebug.org · CVE Record https://www.seebug.org/vuldb/ssvid-98079
medium.com/%4080vul/determine-the-device-model-affected... medium.com · CVE Record https://medium.com/%4080vul/determine-the-device-model-affected-by-cv...

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 25 Mar 2022

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Proof of concept available

Nuclei Templates

Recorded 12 Jun 2026

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source	Added
CISA First	2022-03-25 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver	2026-06-01 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets: 0
User-Agents: 0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Scanner coverage

Nuclei template detected 25 Apr 2025.

View Nuclei template

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner	Reference	Detected
Nuclei	https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2019/CVE-2019-16920.yaml	25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

100.0%

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') CWE-78

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 10.0 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

D-Link Routers - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

12 Jun 2026
Public PoC available

Public proof-of-concept code published
01 Jun 2026
KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

Exploitation attested by an external source
25 Apr 2025
Nuclei template available

Scanner coverage available
25 Mar 2022
Added to CISA KEV

Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
27 Sep 2019
CVE published

Vulnerability disclosed publicly
27 Sep 2019
CVE ID reserved

Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

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Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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Evidence confidence and provenance
First-party sensor telemetry
PoC and scanner references
Affected versions and enrichment
Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2019-16920

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields

{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2019-16920",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99996,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

Early warning alerts

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