CVE-2021-45657 in D6200
Summary
by MITRE • 12/26/2021
Certain NETGEAR devices are affected by server-side injection. This affects D6200 before 1.1.00.38, D7000 before 1.0.1.78, R6020 before 1.0.0.48, R6080 before 1.0.0.48, R6050 before 1.0.1.26, JR6150 before 1.0.1.26, R6120 before 1.0.0.66, R6220 before 1.1.0.100, R6230 before 1.1.0.100, R6260 before 1.1.0.78, R6800 before 1.2.0.76, R6900v2 before 1.2.0.76, R6700v2 before 1.2.0.76, R7450 before 1.2.0.76, AC2100 before 1.2.0.76, AC2400 before 1.2.0.76, AC2600 before 1.2.0.76, RBK40 before 2.5.1.16, RBR40 before 2.5.1.16, RBS40 before 2.5.1.16, RBK20 before 2.5.1.16, RBR20 before 2.5.1.16, RBS20 before 2.5.1.16, RBK50 before 2.5.1.16, RBR50 before 2.5.1.16, RBS50 before 2.5.1.16, RBS50Y before 2.6.1.40, and WNR2020 before 1.1.0.62.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/28/2021
This vulnerability represents a critical server-side injection flaw affecting numerous NETGEAR networking devices, specifically targeting the web-based management interfaces of these routers and access points. The issue stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization within the device's web server implementation, allowing malicious actors to inject arbitrary commands or data into server-side processes. This weakness manifests across multiple device models and firmware versions, indicating a systemic flaw in the software architecture rather than an isolated incident. The affected devices include various models from different product lines including the D6200, D7000, R6020, R6080, and numerous other routers and access points. The vulnerability impacts the authentication and authorization mechanisms, potentially enabling unauthorized access to device management functions and compromising the overall security posture of network infrastructure. This issue falls under the common weakness enumeration category of CWE-94, which specifically addresses "Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter execution.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through manipulation of input parameters within HTTP requests sent to the device's web interface. Attackers can craft malicious payloads that bypass normal input validation checks, allowing them to inject commands that execute with the privileges of the web server process. This typically involves manipulating form fields, URL parameters, or HTTP headers to inject malicious code that gets processed server-side. The impact extends beyond simple command execution to potentially enable complete device compromise, including access to network configuration data, user credentials, and the ability to modify device settings. The vulnerability's widespread nature across multiple device models and firmware versions suggests that the underlying code patterns or architectural decisions were consistently flawed throughout the affected product line, making this a particularly concerning issue for network administrators managing large deployments of these devices. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that many of these devices are accessible from both internal networks and the internet, increasing the likelihood of exploitation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, potentially allowing attackers to gain unauthorized administrative access to network infrastructure devices. Once compromised, attackers can manipulate network configurations, redirect traffic, install malware, or use the devices as launching points for further attacks within the network. The vulnerability particularly affects devices that are often deployed in residential and small business environments where network security monitoring may be limited, making detection and mitigation more challenging. Organizations relying on these devices for network infrastructure are at risk of data breaches, network disruption, and potential lateral movement attacks that could compromise entire network segments. The affected firmware versions span several years of releases, indicating that this vulnerability has persisted for an extended period without proper remediation, leaving many networks exposed to potential exploitation. This vulnerability also impacts the trust model of network infrastructure, as compromised devices can no longer be trusted to maintain secure network operations and may serve as persistent backdoors for attackers.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate firmware updates from NETGEAR to address the server-side injection vulnerability, as these updates will contain the necessary code modifications to properly validate and sanitize input parameters. Network administrators should implement network segmentation to limit access to these devices, particularly restricting external access to management interfaces through firewall rules and access control lists. Additional security measures include disabling unnecessary services, implementing strong authentication mechanisms, and monitoring network traffic for suspicious patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider deploying network monitoring tools that can detect anomalous behavior in network infrastructure devices, as well as conducting regular vulnerability assessments to identify other potential weaknesses in their network infrastructure. The remediation process should include verification that the updated firmware versions properly address the injection vulnerability and that no unauthorized changes have been made to device configurations during the vulnerability window. Security teams should also review and update their incident response procedures to account for potential exploitation of this vulnerability and ensure rapid response capabilities for network infrastructure compromise scenarios.