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Mt7603e FirmwareOperating system · Mediatek

CVE-2021-37569

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
MediaTek microchips, as used in NETGEAR devices through 2021-11-11 and other devices, mishandle IEEE 1905 protocols. (Affected Chipsets MT7603E, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, MT7915; Affected Software Versions 2.0.2; Out-of-bounds write).

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

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in the IEEE 1905 protocol handler of MediaTek chipsets (MT7603E, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, MT7915) as used in NETGEAR and other vendor devices. The vulnerability allows memory corruption via specially crafted IEEE 1905 protocol messages, potentially enabling remote code execution or denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor firmware updates when available; until then, minimize exposure of affected devices to untrusted networks and restrict IEEE 1905 protocol traffic at network boundaries.

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
Mt7603e FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 2.0.2
Mt7613 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 2.0.2
Mt7615 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 2.0.2
Mt7622 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 2.0.2
Mt7628 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 2.0.2
Mt7629 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 2.0.2
Mt7915 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 2.0.2

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Identify the MediaTek chipset model
    Access the device's administrative interface or check the hardware specifications/documentation to determine the exact MediaTek chipset (MT7603E, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, or MT7915). On many devices, this information is available under 'Device Info', 'Status', or 'Hardware' pages in the web UI, or via CLI commands like 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' or 'nvram show' on embedded devices.
    Affected if The chipset is one of: MT7603E, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, or MT7915. Other chipsets are not affected by this CVE.
  2. Check the firmware version
    Retrieve the installed firmware version from the device's admin interface (typically under 'Firmware Version', 'System Info', or 'Status' page) or via CLI commands such as 'nvram get firmware_version', 'cat /proc/version', or vendor-specific commands. Compare this version against the affected version.
    Affected if Firmware version is exactly 2.0.2. Only this specific version is listed as affected in the advisory.
  3. Determine if IEEE 1905 protocol is enabled
    Check the device configuration for IEEE 1905 (also known as '1905.1' or 'Multi-AP') protocol settings. This is typically found in wireless, network, or advanced settings pages. On some devices, it may be labeled as '1905.1 protocol support', 'IEEE 1905', 'Multi-AP', or 'WiFi Easy Mesh'. Use CLI tools like 'iw list' (if supported) or inspect configuration files (e.g., /etc/config/wireless on OpenWrt-based devices).
    Affected if IEEE 1905 protocol support is explicitly enabled in the device configuration. The vulnerability exists in the IEEE 1905 protocol handler, so the device is only exploitable when this feature is active.
  4. Inspect network exposure to untrusted segments
    Evaluate whether the device's WAN or guest network interfaces can receive IEEE 1905 protocol messages from untrusted sources. Review firewall rules, VLAN configurations, and network segmentation to determine if IEEE 1905 traffic (UDP port 7915) from external networks can reach the device.
    Affected if The device is directly exposed to untrusted networks (WAN, guest WiFi, or untrusted VLANs) and IEEE 1905 traffic can reach the device. This indicates elevated risk, though the vulnerability may still exist even without direct exposure.

The device is affected only if it uses one of the listed MediaTek chipsets (MT7603E, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, MT7915) AND runs firmware version 2.0.2 AND has IEEE 1905 protocol enabled.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor firmware updates when available; until then, minimize exposure of affected devices to untrusted networks and restrict IEEE 1905 protocol traffic at network boundaries.

Fix this in Mt7603e Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
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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-2021-37569 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