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Rt Ac86u FirmwareOperating system · Asus

CVE-2023-38032

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
ASUS RT-AC86U AiProtection security- related function has insufficient filtering of special character. A remote attacker with regular user privilege can exploit this vulnerability to perform command injection attack to execute arbitrary commands, disrupt system or terminate services.

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 confidence

Command injection vulnerability in ASUS RT-AC86U router's AiProtection feature. The function fails to properly filter special characters, allowing an authenticated remote attacker with standard user privileges to inject and execute arbitrary OS commands on the device.

MitigationApply available ASUS firmware updates for RT-AC86U; if no patch exists, consider network isolation or disabling the AiProtection feature until a fix is released.

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
Rt Ac86u FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 3.0.0.4_386_51529

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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
    Access router web interface or check device label to confirm model is RT-AC86U
    Affected if Device is not an ASUS RT-AC86U router, then not affected by this specific CVE
  2. Check firmware version
    Log into router web interface, go to Administration > Firmware Version or use 'nvram get firmver' via telnet/SSH to retrieve installed firmware version
    Affected if Firmware version is 3.0.0.4_386_51529 exactly (the only version listed as affected)
  3. Verify AiProtection is enabled
    Log into router web interface, navigate to AiProtection section in left menu and check if the feature is turned on or configured
    Affected if AiProtection is disabled or not present on this device, the specific command injection vector is not accessible
  4. Confirm remote management access
    Check router WAN or LAN settings for remote management/web interface access (typically under Administration > System > Remote Management or similar)
    Affected if The router web interface is accessible from WAN (remote) and AiProtection is enabled, allowing authenticated attackers to reach the vulnerable function

User is affected only if they have an RT-AC86U router running firmware 3.0.0.4_386_51529 with AiProtection enabled and the router web interface accessible to the attacker for authentication.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply available ASUS firmware updates for RT-AC86U; if no patch exists, consider network isolation or disabling the AiProtection feature until a fix is released.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest ASUS RT-AC86U firmware (check ASUS support for current version > 3.0.0.4_386_51529)

  1. 1. Log into the ASUS RT-AC86U router admin interface (typically at 192.168.1.1)
  2. 2. Navigate to Administration > Firmware Upgrade
  3. 3. Check for available firmware updates from ASUS official support site
  4. 4. Download and install the latest firmware version for RT-AC86U
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the AiProtection feature functions correctly
  6. 6. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by ensuring special characters in AiProtection inputs no longer trigger command execution
Caveat firmware upgrades on routers may reset configuration; backup settings before upgrading

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

Fix this in Rt Ac86u Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
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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-2023-38032 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