CVE-2017-18822
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 · uneditedCertain NETGEAR devices are affected by vertical privilege escalation. This affects M4300-28G before 12.0.2.15, M4300-52G before 12.0.2.15, M4300-28G-POE+ before 12.0.2.15, M4300-52G-POE+ before 12.0.2.15, M4300-8X8F before 12.0.2.15, M4300-12X12F before 12.0.2.15, M4300-24X24F before 12.0.2.15, M4300-24X before 12.0.2.15, M4300-48X before 12.0.2.15, and M4200 before 12.0.2.15.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a vertical privilege escalation vulnerability in NETGEAR M4300 series switches and M4200. An attacker with low-level access can elevate privileges to administrator level, bypassing normal authorization controls. The vulnerability affects multiple M4300 variants and M4200 devices running firmware versions before 12.0.2.15.
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< 12.0.2.15< 12.0.2.15< 12.0.2.15< 12.0.2.15< 12.0.2.15< 12.0.2.15< 12.0.2.15< 12.0.2.15CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Identify the device modelAccess the switch web interface or CLI and retrieve the hardware model information. Look for model numbers: M4300-28G, M4300-52G, M4300-28G-PoE+, M4300-52G-PoE+, M4300-8X8F, M4300-12X12F, M4300-24X24F, M4300-24X, or M4200.Affected if The device is not one of the listed M4300 variants or M4200 models.
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Check the firmware versionIn the web interface, go to Administration > Firmware Update or use the CLI command 'show version' to display the current firmware version installed on the device.Affected if The installed firmware version is anything earlier than 12.0.2.15 (for example, 12.0.0.7, 12.0.1.6, etc.).
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Verify user account configurationIn the web interface, navigate to Administration > User Accounts or use the CLI command 'show users' to see configured local user accounts on the device.Affected if The device has more than one user account configured, particularly if there is both an administrator-level account and a standard user-level account.
The device is affected if it is a NETGEAR M4300 series switch or M4200 running firmware version earlier than 12.0.2.15 and has user accounts configured that could be exploited for privilege escalation.
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 data12.0.2.15
Update NETGEAR M4300 and M4200 devices to firmware version 12.0.2.15 or later to remediate this privilege escalation vulnerability.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18822 — 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-2017-18822 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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