Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Some NETGEAR routers and gateways have a post-authentication memory corruption flaw. A user who already has high privileges could trigger a stack overflow, potentially causing serious confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. This is not documented as actively exploited in the supplied sources.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation where affected NETGEAR devices protect business networks or remote sites. The flaw is post-authentication, but successful exploitation has high potential impact. Treat it as a targeted infrastructure risk rather than a confirmed mass-exploitation emergency.
Technical view
CVE-2018-21185 is a stack-based buffer overflow affecting specific NETGEAR firmware versions. CVSS 3.0 is 6.8 with adjacent attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, and high C/I/A impact. The supplied record does not identify the vulnerable component or CWE.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to the listed NETGEAR models running firmware earlier than the fixed versions: D6100, D7800, R7500, R7500v2, R7800, R9000, WNDR3700v4, WNDR4300, WNDR4300v2, WNDR4500v3, and WNR2000v5.
Exploitation context
The CVE record and CVSS vector indicate exploitation requires adjacent network access and high privileges. The source bundle does not include proof of concept details, exploit reports, or KEV listing, so active exploitation should not be assumed.
Researcher notes
The supplied sources do not name the vulnerable endpoint, code path, CWE, or exploit mechanics. Validate exposure through firmware inventory and vendor advisory review. Avoid production exploit testing unless separately authorized and supported by vendor-safe procedures.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected NETGEAR firmware to the listed fixed version or later.
- Check the NETGEAR advisory for model-specific firmware availability and guidance.
- Restrict router and gateway management access to trusted administrators.
- Remove or replace affected devices that cannot receive fixed firmware.
Validation and detection
- Inventory NETGEAR devices and record exact model and firmware version.
- Compare firmware against each affected version threshold in the CVE description.
- Confirm management interfaces are not broadly reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review administrator accounts for unnecessary or stale privileged access.
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-2018-21185 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:A/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:H/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:H/S:U/UI:N0.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
6.8MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:A/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:H/S:U/UI:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://kb.netgear.com/000055173/Security-Advisory-for-Post-Authentication-Stack-Overflow-on-Some-Routers-and-Gateways-PSV-2017-2610CVE 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.