CVE-2014-9183
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 · uneditedZTE ZXDSL 831CII has a default password of admin for the admin account, which allows remote attackers to gain administrator privileges.
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 ZTE ZXDSL 831CII DSL router ships with a hardcoded default password of 'admin' for the administrator account. This default credential is publicly known and cannot be changed through normal configuration without applying vendor firmware updates. Remote attackers can exploit this by attempting the known default credentials against the device's web management interface or other remote management services, gaining full administrative control over the router.
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= 831ciiCVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 device modelIdentify the router model through physical labeling, web interface login page, or DHCP/ARP information on the local networkAffected if Device is a ZTE ZXDSL 831CII router
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Check if default credentials are activeAttempt to access the device web management interface using the username 'admin' and password 'admin'Affected if Login succeeds with these default credentials, indicating the hardcoded password is still active
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Verify if remote management is exposedCheck the device web interface for remote management settings, or attempt to access the web interface from outside the local network on common ports (80, 443, 8080)Affected if Remote administration interface is enabled and accessible from outside the local network
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Confirm password change capabilityAccess the administrator settings page in the web interface and verify if there is an option to change the administrator passwordAffected if No password change option exists or the option is non-functional, meaning the hardcoded password cannot be altered
A user is affected if they own a ZTE ZXDSL 831CII router where the default password 'admin' remains active and remote management is accessible, allowing unauthorized administrative access.
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 dataImmediately change the default administrator password on all affected devices; if the device cannot be updated to a firmware version that supports password change or is otherwise unsupported, replace it with a current, properly secured device. Consider disabling remote administration interfaces if not required.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9183 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
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-2014-9183 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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