CVE-2005-2589
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedUnknown vulnerability in Linksys WRT54GS wireless router with firmware 4.50.6, with WPA Personal/TKIP authentication enabled, allows remote clients to bypass authentication by connecting without using encryption.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Linksys WRT54GS router with firmware 4.50.6 has a vulnerability where WPA Personal/TKIP authentication can be bypassed by connecting without using encryption. The router accepts both encrypted and unencrypted connections but only enforces authentication on encrypted traffic, allowing unauthenticated clients to access the network by simply not using encryption.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 4.50.6CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm router model is Linksys WRT54GSLog into the router web administration interface and navigate to the Status or Setup page to identify the exact hardware model numberAffected if The hardware model is NOT Linksys WRT54GS (this CVE does not apply)
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Identify the installed firmware versionIn the router admin interface, go to Administration > Firmware Upgrade or Status page and note the firmware version number displayedAffected if Firmware version is NOT exactly 4.50.6 (other versions are not affected by this specific CVE)
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Check wireless security mode settingsIn the Wireless > Wireless Security section, examine the security mode dropdown and verify whether options like 'Open' or 'Disabled' are available or selected for any wireless SSIDAffected if The router allows or is configured to accept unencrypted/open wireless connections alongside WPA Personal/TKIP
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Verify WPA enforcement on unencrypted trafficAttempt to connect a client to the wireless network without any encryption and observe whether the connection succeeds without any authentication challengeAffected if Unencrypted connections are accepted without any authentication requirement, indicating the bypass vulnerability is present
You are affected if you have a Linksys WRT54GS router running firmware version 4.50.6 and your wireless settings allow unencrypted connections to succeed without authentication.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataEnforce WPA encryption only on the wireless interface and disable any ability to connect without encryption. If the router cannot be updated to a secure firmware version, replace it with a current model that supports proper WPA3 or WPA2-AES enforcement.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2005-2589 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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