Forescout Research Shows How TP-Link Provisioning Flaws Can Be Chained to Infiltrate Networks

Researchers uncover 15 vulnerabilities affecting TP-Link Omada and demonstrate how weaknesses in device onboarding, authentication, and trust relationships can enable broader network compromise

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forescout Technologies, Inc., a cybersecurity company focused on asset intelligence, exposure management, and network security, today announced new research from Forescout Research – Vedere Labs detailing 15 previously unknown vulnerabilities affecting Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP) in TP-Link Omada, a network device ecosystem for small and medium-sized businesses.

The report, “Zero Day Provisioning: Chaining TP-Link ZTP Vulnerabilities to Infiltrate Networks,” demonstrates how weaknesses in device onboarding, authentication, credential handling, and cryptographic trust can be chained together to compromise controllers, cloud services, and managed devices, providing attackers with a potential path into enterprise networks.

The research highlights a broader risk associated with the growing adoption of ZTP. Rather than targeting a single router, switch, gateway, or wireless access point attackers may target the systems responsible for deploying, configuring, and managing many devices at once.

The findings build on Forescout’s previous disclosure of two additional TP-Link vulnerabilities, CVE-2025-7850 and CVE-2025-7851, which are also used in the attack scenarios demonstrated in the research.

Download the full report and read the accompanying Vedere Labs blog.

“Most research and observed threat activity targeting network infrastructure focuses on individual vulnerabilities in individual devices,” said Daniel dos Santos, VP of Research at Forescout. “This research examines the systems responsible for deploying and managing those devices. As organizations adopt Zero-Touch Provisioning to automate deployment and management, weaknesses in those systems can create entirely new attack scenarios. Our findings underscore the importance of visibility not only into connected devices, but also into the management systems and trust relationships that control them.”

Key Findings

Forescout researchers identified 15 new vulnerabilities affecting TP-Link Omada across four categories:

• Client-side code execution through cross-channel scripting
• Disclosure of sensitive information, including passwords and cryptographic keys
• Device hijacking and spoofing
• Compromise of encrypted communications and the underlying chain of trust

The findings include insecure transmission of credentials, hard-coded cryptographic keys, insufficient certificate validation, predictable device identifiers, unrestricted file uploads, and weaknesses that could allow attackers to impersonate devices or controllers.

• When chained, the vulnerabilities can allow attackers to progress from device onboarding to compromising controllers, cloud services, and managed network infrastructure.
• Related TP-Link product lines, including Festa, VIGI, Tapo, and Kasa, share some of the same protocols and are affected by some of the same vulnerabilities.
• TP-Link Omada and Omada Guard have collectively recorded 1.1 million downloads on Google Play, while the affected TP-Link applications have collectively exceeded 70 million downloads.

Why Zero Touch Provisioning Changes the Threat Landscape

Zero-Touch Provisioning enables network administrators to deploy and configure routers, switches, gateways, and wireless access points with little or no manual intervention. Using a provisioning server, also known as a controller, devices automatically receive configurations, credentials, and software updates, and remain centrally managed throughout their lifecycle.

This simplifies deployment and management of network infrastructure across distributed environments. It also establishes highly trusted relationships among devices, controllers, and cloud services.

When weaknesses exist in the protocols, authentication mechanisms, or trust relationships underpinning the provisioning ecosystem, attackers may be able to abuse the same automation used to manage devices at scale. Instead of compromising one device at a time, they may target the centralized systems responsible for deploying, configuring, and managing multiple devices across an environment.

According to TP-Link’s website, Omada deployments are used in residential developments, industrial complexes, offices, warehouses, and other environments.

Possible Attack Scenarios Enabled by ZTP Vulnerabilities

The report details several attack scenarios in which multiple vulnerabilities are combined.

In one scenario, an attacker positioned outside the victim network identifies devices awaiting adoption by a cloud controller. By impersonating one of those devices during onboarding, the attacker may be able to obtain sensitive configuration information, inject malicious code into the controller interface, and gain access to managed infrastructure.

"Organizations increasingly rely on automation to deploy and manage network infrastructure at scale," said Barry Mainz, CEO of Forescout. "But automation should not create implicit trust between devices, controllers, and cloud services. Applying Zero Trust principles to these environments means continuously verifying those relationships, limiting access to management systems, and containing the impact when one component is compromised. Security teams need universal visibility into both the devices on their networks and the infrastructure responsible for controlling them.”

How Organizations Can Reduce Risk from Vulnerable ZTP Systems

To reduce the risks associated with these vulnerabilities, Forescout recommends that organizations update affected devices, controllers, software, and mobile applications.

Organizations should also:

• Avoid using the same password across all devices during provisioning
• Change device credentials and use strong, unique passwords
• Change TP-Link ID credentials and enable multifactor authentication where available
• Rotate VPN credentials and keys that may have been exposed
• Segment provisioning and management infrastructure from other network resources
• Implement controls that reduce the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks
• Monitor communications among devices, controllers, and cloud services
• Apply defense-in-depth and Zero Trust principles to device-management workflows

The Forescout Research – Vedere Labs team will also present the research at Black Hat USA on August 5, 2026. Researchers Stanislav Dashevskyi and Francesco La Spina will explain how weaknesses in Zero-Touch Provisioning can be chained together to enable broader network compromise. Meet with the Forescout team during Black Hat, or download the full report and read the accompanying Vedere Labs blog.

The full list of vulnerabilities discovered:

FSCT-2025-0003; CVE-2025-15544; CVE-2025-15627; CVE-2025-15628; CVE-2025-15629; FSCT-2025-0008; CVE-2025-15630; CVE-2025-9289; FSCT-2025-0011; CVE-2025-9290; CVE-2025-9291; FSCT-2025-0014; CVE-2025-15631; CVE-2025-9292; and CVE-2025-9293.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)?
A: Zero-Touch Provisioning is a process that allows network devices such as routers, switches, gateways and wireless access points to automatically connect to a controller and receive configurations, credentials and software updates with little or no manual intervention.

Q: What vulnerabilities did Forescout researchers discover in TP-Link Omada?
A: Forescout Research – Vedere Labs identified 15 vulnerabilities affecting the TP-Link Omada Zero-Touch Provisioning ecosystem. The researchers also documented attack scenarios demonstrating how multiple vulnerabilities can be chained together to compromise controllers, managed devices, and network infrastructure.

Q: Which products are affected?
A: The research focuses on TP-Link Omada. Some vulnerabilities also affect products and services within the VIGI, Festa, Tapo, and Kasa ecosystems, as well as certain TP-Link mobile applications, cloud services, and related infrastructure.

Q: What is the potential scale of exposure?
A: The report notes that the Omada and Omada Guard applications have collectively recorded 1.1 million downloads on Google Play. Other TP-Link applications affected by two of the vulnerabilities have collectively recorded more than 70 million downloads. These figures indicate the potential reach of the affected ecosystems but do not represent a confirmed number of vulnerable users or installations.

Q: Why are these vulnerabilities significant?
A: The vulnerabilities affect systems responsible for deploying, configuring, and managing network devices. When combined, they may allow attackers to move beyond a single device and compromise controllers, cloud services, credentials, and other managed infrastructure.

Q: Where can I get the full report?
A: “Zero Day Provisioning: Chaining TP-Link ZTP Vulnerabilities to Infiltrate Networks” is available for download, together with an accompanying analysis on the Vedere Labs blog.

About Forescout

As AI-driven vulnerability discovery and exploitation accelerate attack velocity to machine speed, Forescout is a foundational cyber defense layer that allows organizations to segment and isolate compromised systems, block lateral movement, and automate response across IT, OT, IoT, and IoMT environments. The Forescout Vistaro™ platform, powered by agentic AI and enhanced with Vedere Labs threat intelligence, delivers a Universal Zero Trust Network Access (UZTNA) architecture that integrates seamlessly with 180+ security and IT products. With Forescout Vistaro, organizations get comprehensive inventory and classification of both managed and unmanaged assets, continuous exposure management, and real-time protection including dynamic network segmentation and automated threat response.