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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 29 Sep 2022.
R6200 FirmwareOperating system · Netgear

CVE-2017-5521

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-01-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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
An issue was discovered on NETGEAR R8500, R8300, R7000, R6400, R7300, R7100LG, R6300v2, WNDR3400v3, WNR3500Lv2, R6250, R6700, R6900, and R8000 devices. They are prone to password disclosure via simple crafted requests to the web management server. The bug is exploitable remotely if the remote management option is set, and can also be exploited given access to the router over LAN or WLAN. When trying to access the web panel, a user is asked to authenticate; if the authentication is canceled and password recovery is not enabled, the user is redirected to a page that exposes a password recovery token. If a user supplies the correct token to the page /passwordrecovered.cgi?id=TOKEN (and password recovery is not enabled), they will receive the admin password for the router. If password recovery is set the exploit will fail, as it will ask the user for the recovery questions that were previously set when enabling that feature. This is persistent (even after disabling the recovery option, the exploit will fail) because the router will ask for the security questions.

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 confidence

NETGEAR multiple router models contain an authentication bypass/password disclosure vulnerability in the web management interface. When a user cancels the authentication prompt and password recovery is disabled, the router redirects to a page that exposes a password recovery token. This token can be used at /passwordrecovered.cgi?id=TOKEN to retrieve the admin password in plaintext.

MitigationEnable the password recovery feature with security questions as a workaround, disable remote management access, and apply NETGEAR firmware updates when available. The password recovery workaround is persistent even after being disabled.

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
R6200 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.1.56_1.0.43
R6300 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.2.78_1.0.58
Vegn2610 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.0.36
Ac1450 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.0.34_10.0.16
Wnr1000v3 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.2.68_60.0.93
Wndr3700v3 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.0.40_1.0.32
Wndr4000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.2.4_9.1.86
Wndr4500 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.0.1.44_1.0.73

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify router model
    Locate the model number on the device label or log into the router web interface and check the status page for the exact model (e.g., R6200, R6300, Vegn2610, Ac1450, Wnr1000v3, Wndr3700v3, Wndr4000, Wndr4500)
    Affected if The model is NOT one of the eight listed affected models - if your model is not in this list, you are not affected by this specific CVE.
  2. Check firmware version
    In the router web interface, go to Administration or Router Status page and locate the Firmware Version field. Compare it exactly to the version listed for your model (e.g., R6200 = 1.0.1.56_1.0.43, R6300 = 1.0.2.78_1.0.58, etc.)
    Affected if Your firmware version DOES NOT MATCH exactly the version listed for your model - you are only affected if the version matches exactly the affected version(s) provided.
  3. Verify remote management status
    In the router web interface, go to Settings > Administration or Advanced > Remote Management and check if Enable Remote Management or similar option is turned ON
    Affected if Remote management is ENABLED - this means the vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the internet, not just from the local network.
  4. Verify password recovery is disabled
    In the router web interface, look for Password Recovery or Security Questions option (usually under Administration > Password Recovery or similar). Check if it is DISABLED or not configured.
    Affected if Password recovery is DISABLED - this is the specific condition required for the authentication bypass to work. If password recovery is enabled with security questions, the flaw cannot be triggered.

You are affected only if you have an exact matching model and firmware version from the list AND password recovery is disabled (remote management being enabled adds remote exploitation risk).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Enable the password recovery feature with security questions as a workaround, disable remote management access, and apply NETGEAR firmware updates when available. The password recovery workaround is persistent even after being disabled.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest firmware version available from NETGEAR for your specific model (check kb.netgear.com for your model)

  1. 1. Identify your exact router model from the affected list (R6200, R6300, Vegn2610, Ac1450, Wnr1000v3, Wndr3700v3, Wndr4000, or Wndr4500)
  2. 2. Visit the NETGEAR support website (kb.netgear.com) and navigate to the Downloads/Firmware page for your specific model
  3. 3. Download the latest available firmware version for your router model
  4. 4. Access the router's web management interface (typically at 192.168.1.1)
  5. 5. Navigate to the Administration > Router Update or Firmware Update section
  6. 6. Upload and apply the new firmware file
  7. 7. After the router restarts, verify the new firmware version is installed
  8. 8. As an additional mitigation, ensure Remote Management is disabled if not required (under Administration > Remote Management)
Caveat Firmware updates may reset some custom configurations; backup your settings before upgrading

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

Fix this in R6200 Firmware Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-5521 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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