CVE-2021-40847
Published: 21 September 2021
Summary
CVE-2021-40847 is a high-severity Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information (CWE-319) vulnerability in Netgear R6400V2 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 9.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2021-28003
Vulnerability details
The update process of the Circle Parental Control Service on various NETGEAR routers allows remote attackers to achieve remote code execution as root via a MitM attack. While the parental controls themselves are not enabled by default on the routers,…
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the Circle update daemon, circled, is enabled by default. This daemon connects to Circle and NETGEAR to obtain version information and updates to the circled daemon and its filtering database. However, database updates from NETGEAR are unsigned and downloaded via cleartext HTTP. As such, an attacker with the ability to perform a MitM attack on the device can respond to circled update requests with a crafted, compressed database file, the extraction of which gives the attacker the ability to overwrite executable files with attacker-controlled code. This affects R6400v2 1.0.4.106, R6700 1.0.2.16, R6700v3 1.0.4.106, R6900 1.0.2.16, R6900P 1.3.2.134, R7000 1.0.11.123, R7000P 1.3.2.134, R7850 1.0.5.68, R7900 1.0.4.38, R8000 1.0.4.68, and RS400 1.5.0.68.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Role-based training covers secure transmission methods, mitigating cleartext transmission of sensitive data.
By requiring documented security controls for information exchanges, the control reduces the risk of cleartext transmission of sensitive data.
Mapping transmission actions in data flows helps prevent cleartext transmission of sensitive information.
Settings can enforce secure transmission protocols to prevent cleartext transmission of sensitive data.
Policy addresses secure transport and handling of media to avoid cleartext transmission of sensitive information.
Enforces safeguards against cleartext transmission of CUI when data leaves organizational boundaries to external systems.
Explicit controls and continuous oversight on external system services prevent cleartext transmission of sensitive information over provider-managed channels.
Key-establishment procedures specify secure distribution channels that preclude cleartext transmission of key material.