Rt Ac87u FirmwareOperating system · Asus

CVE-2023-47678

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
An improper access control vulnerability exists in RT-AC87U all versions. An attacker may read or write files that are not intended to be accessed by connecting to a target device via tftp.

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

The RT-AC87U router has an improper access control vulnerability in its TFTP service. An unauthenticated attacker can read or write arbitrary files on the device by connecting via TFTP, exploiting the lack of proper access restrictions on the service.

MitigationApply available firmware updates from ASUS for the RT-AC87U. If no update is available, disable the TFTP service if not required, or implement network-based filtering to restrict TFTP access to trusted IP addresses only.

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 Ac87u FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

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 RT-AC87U
    Check the router label or web interface (typically at 192.168.1.1) for the exact model number under System or Administration settings
    Affected if Device model is Asus RT-AC87U
  2. Verify TFTP service status
    Log into router web interface and check under Administration > System > TFTP Service or similar path depending on firmware version. Look for an enable/disable toggle for TFTP
    Affected if TFTP service is currently enabled on the router
  3. Check TFTP service accessibility
    From an external network (not from within LAN), attempt to connect to the router's IP on TFTP port 69, or check firewall/port forwarding rules in router settings for port 69 (UDP)
    Affected if TFTP port 69 is open to untrusted networks or the router allows TFTP connections from WAN
  4. Inspect TFTP configuration
    Access router via SSH or telnet if enabled and check /etc/tftp.conf or similar TFTP config files, or check through the web UI for TFTP share/directory settings
    Affected if TFTP service has no IP access restrictions configured or permits anonymous read/write access

You are affected if you own an RT-AC87U router with TFTP service enabled and accessible, regardless of firmware version since all versions are vulnerable.

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 firmware updates from ASUS for the RT-AC87U. If no update is available, disable the TFTP service if not required, or implement network-based filtering to restrict TFTP access to trusted IP addresses only.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. This vulnerability has no available fix. The RT-AC87U is an end-of-life device with no firmware updates available.
  2. Disable TFTP service on the device if possible through web interface or CLI.
  3. If TFTP cannot be disabled, implement network segmentation to restrict access to the device's management interface.
  4. Consider replacing the end-of-life router with a currently supported model.
  5. Monitor vendor security advisories for any future updates (unlikely for this legacy device).
Caveat The RT-AC87U is discontinued with no firmware path to a fixed release; replacement with a supported router is the only secure option.

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

Fix this in Rt Ac87u Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2023-47678 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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