Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects specific NETGEAR wireless access points. An unauthenticated network attacker can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow in vulnerable firmware, with potential high integrity impact and limited confidentiality impact. The CVE lists fixed firmware thresholds for each model, so organizations should treat exposed or unmanaged devices as urgent.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for affected wireless access points that remain in production, especially those reachable from broad internal networks. This is not evidenced as actively exploited in the provided sources, but the pre-authentication network attack surface makes delayed firmware management a business risk.
Technical view
CVE-2018-21097 is a pre-authentication stack-based buffer overflow affecting listed NETGEAR wireless access point firmware versions. CVSS 3.0 is 7.1 high, with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, and user interaction required. Availability impact is listed as none; integrity impact is high.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to the listed NETGEAR WAC505, WAC510, WAC120, WN604, WNAP320, WNAP210v2, WNDAP350, WNDAP360, WNDAP660, WNDAP620, and WND930 models running firmware below the fixed versions named in the CVE.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Risk remains material because the flaw is network reachable, pre-authentication, low complexity, and affects access point infrastructure that may be broadly reachable on internal networks.
Researcher notes
The source bundle does not include CWE details, exploit artifacts, or root-cause specifics beyond stack-based buffer overflow. The unusual combination of unauthenticated access and UI:R should be preserved as reported rather than reinterpreted. Validate only version exposure and vendor advisory alignment.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory NETGEAR access points and identify exact model and firmware versions.
- Upgrade affected devices to the fixed firmware versions listed for each model.
- Review the NETGEAR advisory for model-specific firmware and vendor guidance.
- Replace devices if fixed firmware is unavailable or unsupported.
- Limit network reachability to device management surfaces where operationally possible.
Validation and detection
- Confirm each access point model matches or is outside the affected list.
- Compare installed firmware against the fixed version threshold for that model.
- Check asset inventories for unmanaged or legacy NETGEAR wireless access points.
- Verify upgrades completed successfully and versions persist after reboot.
- Document remaining exceptions with compensating controls and owner approval.
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-2018-21097 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.1 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/A:N/C:L/I:H/PR:N/S:U/UI:R
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:N/A:N/C:L/I:H/PR:N/S:U/UI:R2.84.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
7.1HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/A:N/C:L/I:H/PR:N/S:U/UI:R
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://kb.netgear.com/000060457/Security-Advisory-for-Pre-Authentication-Stack-Overflow-on-Some-Wireless-Access-Points-PSV-2018-0094CVE 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.