CVE-2021-41788
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 · uneditedMediaTek microchips, as used in NETGEAR devices through 2021-12-13 and other devices, mishandle attempts at Wi-Fi authentication flooding. (Affected Chipsets MT7603E, MT7612, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, MT7915; Affected Software Versions 7.4.0.0).
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 confidenceA denial-of-service vulnerability exists in MediaTek Wi-Fi chipsets (MT7603E, MT7612, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, MT7915) running software version 7.4.0.0. The chipsets improperly handle Wi-Fi authentication flooding attempts, allowing remote attackers to cause device malfunction or unavailability by sending excessive authentication requests.
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= 7.4.0.0= 7.4.0.0= 7.4.0.0= 7.4.0.0= 7.4.0.0= 7.4.0.0= 7.4.0.0= 7.4.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 MediaTek Wi-Fi chipset modelCheck the device specifications, FCC label, or administrative interface for the Wi-Fi chipset or firmware information. Common locations: router admin panel under 'Wireless' or 'Status' pages, or serial console output during boot.Affected if The device uses one of: MT7603E, MT7612, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, or MT7915 chipsets
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Retrieve installed firmware versionAccess the device administrative interface and locate the firmware version under 'Status', 'System Information', or 'Device Info' pages. Alternatively, check the vendor's support page or the device's boot logs via serial console.Affected if The displayed firmware version is exactly 7.4.0.0
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Verify Wi-Fi access point is enabledConfirm that the wireless access point functionality is active on the device. Check the wireless settings page to ensure at least one SSID is enabled and the radio is operational.Affected if Wi-Fi is enabled and the device is acting as an access point (the vulnerability requires this condition for the attack to be feasible)
The environment is affected if the device contains any of the listed MediaTek chipsets (MT7603E, MT7612, MT7613, MT7615, MT7622, MT7628, MT7629, MT7915) and is running firmware version 7.4.0.0 with Wi-Fi access point functionality enabled.
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 firmware updates from MediaTek and device vendors (e.g., NETGEAR) when released. As interim measures, disable WPS, enable AP isolation, and monitor for anomalous authentication traffic.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-41788 — 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-2021-41788 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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