CVE-2026-36538
Published: 27 May 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-36538 is a high-severity Use of Hard-coded Credentials (CWE-798) vulnerability in Netis System (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Default Accounts (T1078.001); ranked at the 22.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
EU & UK References
No EU or UK CSIRT advisories indexed for this CVE.
Vulnerability details
Netis AC1200 Router NC21 V4.0.1.4296 contains a hard-coded root credential stored in /etc/shadow.sample. The password for the root account is set to the trivially weak value root, allowing an attacker with access to the device to authenticate as root and…
more
gain full control of the underlying operating system.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Hard-coded default root credential in shadow file directly enables Valid Accounts (default/local) and exposes Unsecured Credentials in Files.
CVEs Like This One
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.
Enables users to notice when hard-coded credentials have been exploited for unauthorized access.
Security training explicitly warns against hard-coded credentials, lowering their use in systems.
Policy and procedures prohibit hard-coded credentials in favor of managed authentication.
External identity providers eliminate the need for hard-coded credentials in applications.
Changing default authenticators prior to first use and protecting content prevents use of hard-coded credentials.
Central credential stores and rotation policies remove the need for hard-coded credentials in configuration files or code.
Intelligence programs surface reports of campaigns that abuse hard-coded credentials in products, prompting removal or replacement and thereby reducing successful exploitation.
Planned investment enables secure credential storage and management systems instead of hard-coded credentials.