Apex Plus FirmwareOperating system · Gotrango

CVE-2016-10305

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-03-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.2.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Trango Apex <= 2.1.1, ApexLynx < 2.0, ApexOrion < 2.0, ApexPlus <= 3.2.0, Giga <= 2.6.1, GigaLynx < 2.0, GigaOrion < 2.0, GigaPlus <= 3.2.3, GigaPro <= 1.4.1, StrataLink < 3.0, and StrataPro devices have a built-in, hidden root account, with a default password that was once stored in cleartext within a software update package on a Trango FTP server. This account is accessible via SSH and/or TELNET, and grants access to the underlying embedded UNIX OS on the device, allowing full control over it.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-798

A password or key is baked into the source or binary, so anyone who obtains the code obtains the credential. These are trivially found once the software is distributed. Remediation means removing the secret, rotating it, and loading credentials from secured configuration at runtime.

General guidance for the hard-coded credentials 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
Apex Plus FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 3.2.0
Apex FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 2.1.1
Apex Lynx FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 1.2.3
Apex Orion FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 1.2.3
Giga FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 2.6.1
Giga Lynx FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 1.2.3
Giga Orion FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 1.2.3
Giga Plus FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 3.2.3

CVSS 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:3.1/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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.2.3
Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to the latest stable firmware release for your model (any version greater than the vulnerable thresholds listed above).

  1. Identify the exact Trango device model and record the current firmware version (e.g., via the web UI or console).
  2. Visit the official Trango support website and locate the latest firmware release for that model. The fixed release is any version greater than the last vulnerable version (Apex Plus >3.2.0, Apex >2.1.1, Apex Lynx >1.2.3, Apex Orion >1.2.3, Giga >2.6.1, Giga Lynx >1.2.3, Giga Orion >1.2.3, Giga Plus >3.2.3).
  3. Back up the device configuration (export via the UI or document critical settings) before applying the new firmware.
  4. Download the firmware file and, using the device’s web interface, TFTP, or FTP upload mechanism, apply the upgrade. Follow the vendor’s exact upgrade instructions.
  5. After the device reboots, verify the firmware version has been updated and confirm that the hidden root account no longer exists (e.g., check /etc/passwd via console or attempt SSH login with the previously known credential).
  6. Ensure SSH and Telnet access are disabled or restricted to trusted networks; if the firmware allows, disable these services entirely and use out‑of‑band management.
  7. Test any custom scripts or external integrations against the new firmware before deploying to production.
Caveat Firmware upgrade may reset configuration; back up settings before upgrading and expect a brief service interruption.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can identify the exact fixed release, upgrade, and verify it in staging — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-10305 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-10305 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data