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Cax30 FirmwareOperating system · Netgear

CVE-2023-44445

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2024-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.2.1.12 or later.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
No privileges 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
NETGEAR CAX30 SSO Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of NETGEAR CAX30 routers. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the sso binary. 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-19058.

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

Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the sso binary of NETGEAR CAX30 routers. The flaw allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code as root due to insufficient validation of user-supplied data length before copying to a fixed-size stack buffer. No authentication is required for exploitation.

MitigationApply NETGEAR firmware patches when released; in the interim, restrict network access to the router's management interface to prevent unauthorized access.

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
Cax30 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.2.1.12

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm device model is NETGEAR CAX30
    Access router admin panel or check device label/marketing to verify the exact model number is CAX30
    Affected if Device is not a NETGEAR CAX30 router
  2. Check installed firmware version
    Log into router web interface (typically at 192.168.1.1) and navigate to Administration > Firmware Update or check the status page for the current firmware version number
    Affected if Firmware version is lower than 2.2.1.12 (for example, 2.2.1.10, 2.1.1.5, etc.)
  3. Verify sso binary is present on device
    Access router via SSH or telnet if enabled, then locate the sso binary (typically in /usr/bin or similar system bin directories) using 'find / -name sso' or 'ls' commands
    Affected if sso binary exists on the device and firmware version is below 2.2.1.12
  4. Assess network exposure of management interface
    Check router firewall settings and determine if the web management interface (HTTP/HTTPS on ports 80/443) is accessible from the WAN/internet rather than only from the LAN
    Affected if Management interface is exposed to untrusted networks and firmware version is below 2.2.1.12

Environment is affected if the device is a NETGEAR CAX30 router running firmware version lower than 2.2.1.12 with the sso binary present and management interface network-accessible.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.2.1.12 or later
Fixed in 2.2.1.12
Interim mitigation

Apply NETGEAR firmware patches when released; in the interim, restrict network access to the router's management interface to prevent unauthorized access.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firmware version 2.2.1.12 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current firmware version of the NETGEAR CAX30 router by logging into the router web interface and checking the firmware version under Administration > Firmware Update or similar
  2. 2. Download the firmware version 2.2.1.12 (or later) from the official NETGEAR support site (support.netgear.com) for the CAX30 model
  3. 3. Log into the router's web administration interface
  4. 4. Navigate to the Firmware Update section (typically under Administration > Firmware Update)
  5. 5. Click the button to upload new firmware and select the downloaded firmware file
  6. 6. Wait for the firmware upload and installation to complete - do not power off the router during this process
  7. 7. After the router restarts, verify the new firmware version is installed and the device is functioning normally

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

Fix this in Cax30 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
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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-2023-44445 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