CVE-2017-5521

NETGEAR Multiple Devices Exposure of Sensitive Information

8.1 HIGHActively exploited (CISA KEV)Public exploitEPSS 89.2%

Published17 Jan 2017
Added to CISA KEV8 Sept 2022
Remediation due29 Sept 2022

Description

An issue was discovered on NETGEAR R8500, R8300, R7000, R6400, R7300, R7100LG, R6300v2, WNDR3400v3, WNR3500Lv2, R6250, R6700, R6900, and R8000 devices. They are prone to password disclosure via simple crafted requests to the web management server. The bug is exploitable remotely if the remote management option is set, and can also be exploited given access to the router over LAN or WLAN. When trying to access the web panel, a user is asked to authenticate; if the authentication is canceled and password recovery is not enabled, the user is redirected to a page that exposes a password recovery token. If a user supplies the correct token to the page /passwordrecovered.cgi?id=TOKEN (and password recovery is not enabled), they will receive the admin password for the router. If password recovery is set the exploit will fail, as it will ask the user for the recovery questions that were previously set when enabling that feature. This is persistent (even after disabling the recovery option, the exploit will fail) because the router will ask for the security questions.

CVSS 3.1 breakdown

Attack vectorNetwork

Attack complexityHigh

Privileges requiredNone

User interactionNone

ScopeUnchanged

ConfidentialityHigh

IntegrityHigh

AvailabilityHigh

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

Affected products

NETGEAR Ac1450 Firmware1.0.0.34_10.0.16

NETGEAR D6220 Firmware1.0.0.12

NETGEAR D6300b Firmware1.0.0.40

NETGEAR D6300 Firmware1.0.0.96

NETGEAR D6400 Firmware1.0.0.44

NETGEAR Dgn2200bv4 Firmware1.0.0.68

NETGEAR R6200 Firmware1.0.1.56_1.0.43

NETGEAR R6300 Firmware1.0.2.78_1.0.58

NETGEAR Vegn2610 Firmware1.0.0.36

NETGEAR Wndr3700v3 Firmware1.0.0.40_1.0.32

NETGEAR Wndr4000 Firmware1.0.2.4_9.1.86

NETGEAR Wndr4500 Firmware1.0.1.44_1.0.73

NETGEAR Wnr1000v3 Firmware1.0.2.68_60.0.93

Remediation

No fixed version is recorded in the NVD data. Check the vendor advisory for the latest guidance.

Patch & vendor advisories

http://kb.netgear.com/30632/Web-GUI-Password-Recovery-and-Exposure-Security-Vulnerability

References

http://kb.netgear.com/30632/Web-GUI-Password-Recovery-and-Exposure-Security-VulnerabilityVendor Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-5521US Government Resource
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41205/ExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95457Broken LinkThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry

Frequently asked

Is CVE-2017-5521 being actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2017-5521 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added 8 Sept 2022.

How severe is CVE-2017-5521?

CVE-2017-5521 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1, rated high. EPSS estimates a 89.2% probability of exploitation.

Which products are affected by CVE-2017-5521?

Affected products include NETGEAR Ac1450 Firmware, NETGEAR D6220 Firmware, NETGEAR D6300b Firmware, NETGEAR D6300 Firmware, NETGEAR D6400 Firmware, and 8 more.

How do I fix CVE-2017-5521?

Apply the vendor's patch or advisory guidance, then verify no affected versions remain across your devices.

How Secuno handles this

Secuno correlates vulnerabilities like CVE-2017-5521 against the real software inventory on every managed device, every day. Rather than a static severity, each match is scored in context: exploit availability, EPSS, the asset's exposure, and business criticality decide where it lands in the queue. Because it is on the CISA KEV list, Secuno flags any affected asset as top-priority automatically. If an affected version is present anywhere across your portfolio, it surfaces automatically with a prioritised remediation path.

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Data from the NVD, CISA KEV catalog and FIRST EPSS. CVSS 3.1 base score shown where available.