CVE-2018-21120
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 CSRF. This affects WAC120 before 2.1.7, WAC505 before 5.0.5.4, WAC510 before 5.0.5.4, WNAP320 before 3.7.11.4, WNAP210v2 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP350 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP360 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP660 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP620 before 2.1.7, WND930 before 2.1.5, and WN604 before 3.3.10.
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 confidenceMultiple NETGEAR wireless access point devices lack Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protection in their web management interfaces. An attacker can craft malicious links that, when clicked by an authenticated administrator, can silently execute unauthorized configuration changes on the affected devices.
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< 2.1.7< 5.0.5.4< 5.0.5.4< 3.7.11.4< 3.7.11.4< 3.7.11.4< 3.7.11.4< 3.7.11.4CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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 NETGEAR access point modelLog into the device web management interface and locate the model number in the status or dashboard page, or check the physical device labelAffected if The model matches one of the affected devices: WAC120, WAC505, WAC510, WNAP320, WNAP210, WNDAP350, WNDAP360, or WNDAP660
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Check the installed firmware versionIn the web interface, go to Maintenance > Firmware Upgrade or System > Status to view the current firmware version. Alternatively, access the device via SSH and run the command to display system information if availableAffected if The firmware version is below the fixed version for your model (WAC120: 2.1.7, WAC505/WAC510: 5.0.5.4, WNAP320/WNAP210/WNDAP350/WNDAP360/WNDAP660: 3.7.11.4)
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Determine if the web management interface is exposedCheck your network configuration to see if the device admin HTTP/HTTPS ports (typically 80/443) are accessible from untrusted networks or the internet. Review firewall rules and NAT configurationsAffected if The web management interface is accessible from networks outside your trusted administrative zone, increasing the risk of CSRF attacks
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Verify if CSRF tokens are present in configuration formsAccess the device web interface, open your browser developer tools, navigate to a configuration page that allows changes (such as network settings or SSID configuration), and inspect the form submission requests to check for anti-CSRF tokens or headersAffected if Form submissions lack CSRF protection tokens (such as unique session-bound values) and the Referer header is not validated by the server
Your environment is affected if you have one of the listed NETGEAR access point models running firmware versions below the fixed releases and the web management interface is accessible to users who could be targeted by malicious links.
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 data2.1.73.7.11.45.0.5.4
Update firmware to the specified versions (WAC120: 2.1.7, WAC505/WAC510: 5.0.5.4, WNAP320/WNAP210v2/WNDAP350/WNDAP360/WNDAP660: 3.7.11.4, WNDAP620: 2.1.7, WND930: 2.1.5, WN604: 3.3.10). Avoid accessing the device admin interface from untrusted networks or while browsing untrusted sites.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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-2018-21120 — 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-2018-21120 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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