CVE-2020-15416
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to bypass authentication on affected installations of NETGEAR R6700 V1.0.4.84_10.0.58 routers. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the httpd service, which listens on TCP port 80 by default. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length, stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-9703.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow in NETGEAR R6700 router httpd service (TCP port 80) allows unauthenticated network-adjacent attackers to execute code as root. The vulnerability results from insufficient length validation before copying user-supplied data into a fixed-size stack buffer.
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= 1.0.4.84_10.0.58CVSS 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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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Identify device modelAccess the router admin interface or check the device label to confirm the model is NETGEAR R6700Affected if Device is not a NETGEAR R6700 router, then not affected by this specific CVE
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Check firmware versionLog into the router admin interface (typically at 192.168.1.1) and navigate to Administration > Router Update or check the firmware version displayed on the dashboard. Alternatively, use Nmap or curl to probe the httpd service and examine HTTP headers for version information.Affected if Firmware version is exactly 1.0.4.84_10.0.58 - this is the only affected version listed for this CVE
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Verify httpd service is running on port 80Use a network scanner (such as nmap or netcat) from a network-adjacent host to check if TCP port 80 is open and responding: nmap -p 80 <router-ip> or curl -v http://<router-ip>Affected if Port 80 is open and the httpd service is reachable - the buffer overflow requires the httpd service to be accessible
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Confirm remote HTTP management is enabledLog into the router admin interface and check the Remote Management settings under Advanced > Remote Management. Verify if 'Enable Remote Management' or similar option is checked, allowing HTTP access from outside the local network.Affected if Remote HTTP management is enabled, making the vulnerability exploitable from network-adjacent positions beyond the local LAN
A NETGEAR R6700 router running firmware version 1.0.4.84_10.0.58 with the httpd service exposed on port 80 is affected by this CVE; the vulnerability requires the httpd service to be accessible, either locally or remotely.
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 dataApply NETGEAR firmware update to patched version. If update unavailable, disable remote HTTP management, restrict LAN access, and segment affected devices on isolated network segments.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15416 — 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-2020-15416 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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