CVE-2026-116839 in airMAX M
Summary
by MITRE • 10/27/2026
A malicious actor who lures an authenticated user to a malicious page could exploit a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability found in airMAX M devices to make unauthorized changes and execute a Denial of Service (DoS) attack on the device.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/27/2026
The identified vulnerability represents a critical security flaw within the web interface of airMAX network management devices, specifically classified as a Cross-Site Request Forgery or CSRF. This type of attack exploits the trust that an application places in a user's browser to execute unintended commands on behalf of that authenticated user without their knowledge or consent. In this specific context, the vulnerability allows a malicious actor to craft a deceptive webpage containing hidden requests designed to interact with the airMAX device’s administrative interface. When an administrator who is currently logged into the device visits this malicious page, typically through social engineering tactics such as phishing links or compromised websites, the browser automatically attaches session cookies and authentication tokens associated with the legitimate site. This mechanism bypasses standard security controls that rely solely on cookie-based authentication for state-changing operations, effectively allowing the attacker to impersonate the victim user within the context of the vulnerable application.
The technical execution of this flaw involves the manipulation of HTTP requests sent from the victim’s browser to the airMAX device. Because modern browsers automatically include credentials such as session cookies in cross-origin requests initiated by scripts or embedded resources like images, iframes, or forms on a third-party site, the malicious page can trigger administrative actions without requiring any additional input from the user. The attacker does not need to know the victim’s password or intercept network traffic; they only need to lure the authenticated administrator to their controlled environment. This lack of anti-CSRF tokens or same-site cookie attributes in the device's web interface design is a fundamental architectural weakness that violates established secure coding practices for handling state-changing requests, particularly those affecting system configuration and stability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized configuration changes, as it explicitly enables Denial of Service attacks against the targeted infrastructure. By forcing the device to execute commands that consume excessive resources or disrupt network connectivity, an attacker can degrade service availability for all users relying on the airMAX node. This could involve resetting critical settings, flooding internal logs, or triggering firmware updates at inopportune times, leading to prolonged downtime and potential data loss depending on the specific configuration changes induced. The severity is compounded by the fact that it requires no special privileges other than a valid session for an administrative user, making it highly exploitable against organizations with less rigorous security hygiene regarding browser sessions and web application access controls.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery as the inclusion of untrusted data in state-changing requests without proper validation mechanisms such as anti-CSRF tokens or SameSite cookie attributes. Furthermore, it maps to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078, specifically Valid Accounts, where adversaries leverage legitimate credentials obtained through phishing or other means to maintain persistence and execute malicious actions within the target environment. The exploitation path also reflects common patterns found in CWE-942, which covers CSRF vulnerabilities resulting from missing anti-CSRF tokens for state-changing requests.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate technical fixes and broader security posture improvements. Administrators should immediately apply any available firmware updates provided by the vendor that address this specific flaw, as these typically include patches implementing proper request validation mechanisms such as synchronizer token patterns or origin checking headers. In the absence of an update, network-level controls can be employed to restrict access to the device’s management interface exclusively from trusted IP addresses using firewall rules, thereby reducing the attack surface for web-based exploits. Additionally, enforcing strict session timeouts and requiring re-authentication for sensitive administrative actions can limit the window of opportunity for such attacks. Long-term remediation should involve adopting secure development lifecycle practices that mandate CSRF protection mechanisms in all future firmware releases to prevent similar architectural weaknesses from recurring.