CVE-2018-21096 in WAC120
Summary
by MITRE
Certain NETGEAR devices are affected by CSRF. This affects WAC120 before 2.1.7, WAC505 before 5.0.5.4, WAC510 before 5.0.5.4, WNAP320 before 3.7.11.4, WNAP210v2 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP350 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP360 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP660 before 3.7.11.4, WNDAP620 before 2.1.7, WND930 before 2.1.5, and WN604 before 3.3.10.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/06/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-21096 represents a cross-site request forgery issue affecting multiple NETGEAR wireless access point and controller devices. This CSRF flaw resides within the web-based administration interfaces of affected models, creating a significant security risk for network administrators who rely on these devices for wireless network management. The vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to perform unauthorized actions on affected devices through malicious web requests, potentially compromising network security and device configurations.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins within the web interfaces of these networking devices. When administrators access the management console, the devices fail to properly verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same session. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious web pages or links that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable device's administration interface. The flaw manifests across multiple device families including WAC series controllers and WNDAP series access points, indicating a systemic issue in the web application frameworks used across NETGEAR's product line.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple configuration changes, as it can enable attackers to modify critical network settings, update firmware, or even reset device configurations. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could potentially gain persistent access to wireless networks, modify authentication parameters, or disable security features. The affected versions span several years of device releases, suggesting that this flaw existed for extended periods without proper mitigation, leaving numerous enterprise and consumer networks exposed to potential compromise. Network administrators who regularly access these devices through web interfaces are particularly at risk, as the attack requires only that an administrator visit a malicious page while logged into the device's management interface.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-21096 should prioritize immediate firmware updates from NETGEAR, as the vendor has released patches addressing this specific vulnerability. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit access to these management interfaces to trusted administrative workstations only, while ensuring that administrative access requires strong authentication methods including multi-factor authentication. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual configuration changes or firmware updates that might indicate exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery flaws in web applications. From an ATT&CK perspective, this represents a technique for privilege escalation and persistence through the manipulation of administrative web interfaces, potentially enabling lateral movement within network segments where these devices operate. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and prevent CSRF attacks targeting these management interfaces, particularly in environments where network segmentation is insufficient to protect critical infrastructure devices.