CVE-2016-10176
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 · uneditedThe NETGEAR WNR2000v5 router allows an administrator to perform sensitive actions by invoking the apply.cgi URL on the web server of the device. This special URL is handled by the embedded web server (uhttpd) and processed accordingly. The web server also contains another URL, apply_noauth.cgi, that allows an unauthenticated user to perform sensitive actions on the device. This functionality can be exploited to change the router settings (such as the answers to the password-recovery questions) and achieve remote code execution.
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 analysisThe application accepts input without confirming it is well-formed or within expected bounds, so malformed data can push the program into states its author never anticipated. Attackers probe these gaps to trigger crashes, bypass logic, or feed tainted values into more dangerous operations downstream. Remediating it well means validating and normalising every input at the boundary against a strict allow-list — not merely filtering known-bad values.
General guidance for the improper input validation class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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<= 1.0.0.34CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
dbcve · scopedWNR2000v5 firmware version greater than 1.0.0.34 (check NETGEAR KB article 000036549 for the specific fixed release)
- 1. Disconnect the router from the internet or place it behind a firewall to minimize exposure during the update process.
- 2. Visit the official NETGEAR support website and search for WNR2000v5 firmware updates.
- 3. Download the latest available firmware version for WNR2000v5 from NETGEAR's official support page.
- 4. Access the router's web management interface by connecting to the router's LAN IP (typically 192.168.1.1).
- 5. Navigate to the Administration or Firmware Update section of the router settings.
- 6. Upload and apply the downloaded firmware file to update the router.
- 7. After the update completes, verify the new firmware version in the router's admin interface.
- 8. Change the default administrator password and review all security settings.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-10176 — 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-2016-10176 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
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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