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D7800 FirmwareOperating system · Netgear

CVE-2018-21161

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.0.1.34 / 1.0.2.46 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Certain NETGEAR devices are affected by incorrect configuration of security settings. This affects D7800 before 1.0.1.34, R7800 before 1.0.2.46, and R9000 before 1.0.3.16.

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 confidence

Certain NETGEAR router models (D7800, R7800, R9000) contain incorrect security settings in their default firmware configurations. The specific nature of the misconfiguration is not detailed, but the critical CVSS score suggests a significant exposure such as hardcoded credentials, weak default passwords, or exposed administrative services.

MitigationUpdate affected NETGEAR devices to firmware versions D7800 1.0.1.34, R7800 1.0.2.46, or R9000 1.0.3.16 or later to remediate the security misconfiguration.

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
D7800 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.1.34
R7800 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.2.46
R9000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.3.16

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

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 label on the device or check the administrative web interface for the exact model designation (D7800, R7800, or R9000)
    Affected if Model is D7800, R7800, or R9000
  2. Check installed firmware version
    Log into the router web interface (typically at 192.168.1.1) and navigate to Administration > Firmware Update or Router Status to view the current firmware version string
    Affected if Firmware version is below 1.0.1.34 for D7800, below 1.0.2.46 for R7800, or below 1.0.3.16 for R9000
  3. Verify default administrative credentials
    Attempt to log into the router admin interface using the default username and password (typically admin/password or admin/admin)
    Affected if Default NETGEAR credentials still work without having been changed by the administrator
  4. Check for exposed administrative services
    Use a network scanner or telnet/ssh client to probe ports 80, 443, 22, and 23 on the router's WAN IP address for accessible management interfaces
    Affected if Administrative interfaces are accessible from the WAN (internet-facing) side without VPN or firewall restriction

User is affected if they own a D7800, R7800, or R9000 device running firmware versions below 1.0.1.34, 1.0.2.46, or 1.0.3.16 respectively and have not changed default credentials or restricted WAN access.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.0.1.34 / 1.0.2.46 / 1.0.3.16 or later
Fixed in 1.0.1.341.0.2.461.0.3.16
Interim mitigation

Update affected NETGEAR devices to firmware versions D7800 1.0.1.34, R7800 1.0.2.46, or R9000 1.0.3.16 or later to remediate the security misconfiguration.

Recommended fix High confidence

D7800: Upgrade to firmware 1.0.1.34 or later | R7800: Upgrade to firmware 1.0.2.46 or later | R9000: Upgrade to firmware 1.0.3.16 or later

  1. Log in to the NETGEAR router web interface using the default gateway address (typically http://192.168.1.1 or http://routerlogin.net)
  2. Navigate to the Administration or Advanced tab
  3. Select Firmware Update or Router Update option
  4. Click Check for New Version to search for the latest firmware, or manually download the specific firmware file from NETGEAR's support site for your model
  5. If manually updating, click Upload to select the downloaded firmware file (.img or .bin)
  6. Wait for the firmware upload to complete - do not power off or restart the router during this process
  7. The router will automatically reboot after the firmware is applied
  8. Log back into the router web interface and verify the firmware version under Administration > Firmware Update to confirm the update was successful
Caveat Firmware updates may reset router configuration to defaults; back up current settings before upgrading and reconfigure after

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

Fix this in D7800 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2018-21161 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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