Mt7603e FirmwareOperating system · Mediatek

CVE-2021-37571

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

MediaTek chipsets used in NETGEAR and other vendor devices contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in IEEE 1905 protocol handling. The IEEE 1905 protocol facilitates communication in hybrid wired/wireless home networks. This memory corruption issue in the chipset firmware could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor firmware updates from MediaTek and affected device manufacturers (e.g., NETGEAR) that address the vulnerability in the chipset software version 2.0.2. No practical workarounds exist for firmware-level vulnerabilities.

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 MediaTek chipset in the device
    Review device documentation, or use commands like 'lspci -v', 'lsusb -v', or check /proc/cpuinfo to identify the specific MediaTek chipset model (Mt7603e, Mt7613, Mt7615, Mt7622, Mt7628, Mt7629, or Mt7915)
    Affected if The device contains one of the affected MediaTek chipset models listed in the CVE (Mt7603e, Mt7613, Mt7615, Mt7622, Mt7628, Mt7629, or Mt7915)
  2. Locate MediaTek chipset firmware version
    Access the chipset firmware information through the device administration interface, boot logs, or vendor documentation; on Linux systems check /lib/firmware/mediatek or use 'cat /proc/mediatek/version' if available, or consult the device firmware release notes
    Affected if The chipset firmware version is exactly 2.0.2
  3. Check if IEEE 1905 protocol is enabled
    Examine the device network configuration settings for IEEE 1905 protocol support; this protocol is typically found in Wi-Fi or Ethernet settings under names like '1905', 'Hybrid Networking', or 'Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)' related options
    Affected if IEEE 1905 protocol is enabled and operational on the device

You are affected if your device uses a MediaTek chipset (Mt7603e, Mt7613, Mt7615, Mt7622, Mt7628, Mt7629, or Mt7915) with firmware version exactly 2.0.2 and has IEEE 1905 protocol enabled as the vulnerable attack surface.

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 from MediaTek and affected device manufacturers (e.g., NETGEAR) that address the vulnerability in the chipset software version 2.0.2. No practical workarounds exist for firmware-level vulnerabilities.

Fix this in Mt7603e Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,840
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2021-37571 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