Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Some older NETGEAR routers and gateways have a pre-authentication stack overflow. An unauthenticated attacker with adjacent network access could cause severe confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. Business urgency is highest where these devices remain deployed in offices, branches, or remote sites.
Executive priority
High priority for networks still using listed NETGEAR devices. The issue is old but severe, unauthenticated, and affects networking equipment. Patch or remove affected devices during the next controlled maintenance window; accelerate for locations with shared or guest-accessible networks.
Technical view
CVE-2017-18751 is a stack-based buffer overflow affecting specified NETGEAR devices before listed firmware versions. CVSS 3.0 is 8.8: adjacent network, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, unchanged scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Likely exposure is named NETGEAR models on earlier firmware: D7800 <1.0.1.28, R6100 <1.0.1.16, R7500 <1.0.0.112, R7500v2 <1.0.3.20, R7800 <1.0.2.36, R9000 <1.0.2.52, WNDR3700v4 <1.0.2.88, WNDR4300 <1.0.2.90, WNDR4300v2/WNDR4500v3 <1.0.0.48.
Exploitation context
The supplied sources do not report active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked KEV. CVSS indicates unauthenticated, low-complexity exploitation from an adjacent network with no user interaction. Treat network adjacency to affected devices as the key risk condition.
Researcher notes
The CVE record lacks CWE details, and the source bundle gives no exploit proof, patch mechanism details, or vulnerable component path. Analysis should stay anchored to model and firmware exposure, CVSS attributes, and the NETGEAR advisory.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected models to the fixed firmware version named by NETGEAR or later.
- If firmware cannot be updated, replace or retire affected hardware.
- Restrict device access to trusted local or administrative networks only.
- Review NETGEAR advisory PSV-2017-2517 for model-specific guidance before changes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory NETGEAR routers and gateways by model and firmware version.
- Compare each device against the affected version thresholds in CVE-2017-18751.
- Confirm upgraded devices report the expected fixed or later firmware.
- Check network design for unnecessary adjacency to untrusted users or guests.
- Record exceptions where unsupported hardware cannot receive fixed firmware.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2017-18751 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:A/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:N/S:U/UI:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:A/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:N/S:U/UI:N2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:A/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:N/S:U/UI:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://kb.netgear.com/000051503/Security-Advisory-for-Pre-Authentication-Stack-Overflow-on-Some-Routers-and-Gateways-PSV-2017-2517CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.