CVE-2018-14081
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered on D-Link DIR-809 A1 through 1.09, A2 through 1.11, and Guest Zone through 1.09 devices. Device passwords, such as the admin password and the WPA key, are stored in cleartext.
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 D-Link DIR-809 router firmware (versions A1 up to 1.09, A2 up to 1.11, and Guest Zone up to 1.09) stores sensitive credentials including the admin password and WPA wireless key in cleartext (unencrypted) within the device configuration storage. An attacker with access to the device's firmware, configuration files, or storage can retrieve these credentials in plaintext.
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<= 1.09<= 1.11<= 1.09CVSS 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
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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Check router firmware version via web interfaceLog into the D-Link DIR-809 admin web interface (typically at 192.168.0.1) and navigate to Status or System Info page to view the firmware versionAffected if The firmware version displayed is A1 version 1.09 or lower, A2 version 1.11 or lower, or Guestzone version 1.09 or lower
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Check firmware version via CLIAccess the router via telnet or SSH if enabled and run the command to display firmware version (commonly 'version' or 'cat /proc/version')Affected if The firmware version shown is within the affected ranges listed above
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Extract and inspect configuration backup fileIf the router web interface provides a configuration backup/export feature, download the config file (usually .bin or .cfg extension) and open it in a text editor or use 'strings' command to search for plaintext passwordsAffected if The configuration file contains readable admin password or WPA wireless key strings in plaintext rather than hashed or encrypted values
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Check for telnet/SSH access to firmware storageIf you have physical access or can mount the firmware image, look for configuration files in /etc or /var directories and inspect them for unencrypted credentialsAffected if Configuration files or NVRAM storage contain plaintext credentials that should be encrypted or hashed
A user is affected if their D-Link DIR-809 firmware version falls within A1 <= 1.09, A2 <= 1.11, or Guestzone <= 1.09 and configuration files contain unencrypted credentials.
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 dataUpdate the router firmware to patched versions provided by D-Link. If no patched firmware is available, implement network segmentation, change credentials immediately, and monitor for unauthorized access to the device configuration.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14081 — 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-2018-14081 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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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.
- 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