Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Data Protection

Critical Vulnerability Haunts NetGear ReadyNAS Devices

A critical vulnerability in NETGEAR’s ReadyNAS network attached storage devices can allow attackers to gain root access without authentication, according to a warning from the Tripwire Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team (VERT).

A critical vulnerability in NETGEAR’s ReadyNAS network attached storage devices can allow attackers to gain root access without authentication, according to a warning from the Tripwire Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team (VERT).

Tripwire’s security researcher Craig Young describes the flaw as a command injection issue that occurs because of a failure to sanitize user-controlled input. “This instance is particularly severe because it can be triggered without authentication,” Young warned in an advisory.  

“The consequence is that an unauthenticated HTTP request can inject arbitrary Perl code to run on the server. Naturally, this includes the ability to execute commands on the ReadyNAS embedded Linux in the context of the Apache web server,” Young explained.

“[This issue allows] complete root access from a single, unauthenticated HTTP request,” he warned.

NETGEAR shipped an update to correct the issue but Tripwire’s research team found that the documentation on the severity of the vulnerability was very limited and caused many ReadyNAS users to skip application of the patch.

Using the Shodan search tool, Young found more than 10,000 public IP addresses running vulnerable versions ReadyNAS. “Based on a sample size of 2,000 hosts, approximately 73% of the Internet exposed ReadyNAS are running [the vulnerable] RAIDiator firmware prior to 4.2.24,” he said.

“If you are running ReadyNAS and you have not already updated, it is imperative that you do so ASAP, especially if your ReadyNAS web interface is one of the thousands that are directly accessible from the public Internet,” Young warned.

In the advisory, Young said the attack surface is reduced when the ReadyNAS web interface is not exposed to the Internet but cautioned that the flaw can be exploited via specially crafted web pages or even e-mail messages.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Tripwire reported the issues to NETGEAR starting last November, leading to the release of patches in July. However, Young said NETGEAR released firmware updates without proper warnings about the seriousness of the issues.

“The only mention of security concerns were in the firmware release notes. There’s just one line: ‘Updated Frontview to fix security issues.’ Without knowledge of the specific vulnerabilities, customers feel no sense of urgency about installing the update,” he added.

Written By

Ryan Naraine is Editor-at-Large at SecurityWeek and host of the popular Security Conversations podcast series. He is a security community engagement expert who has built programs at major global brands, including Intel Corp., Bishop Fox and GReAT. Ryan is a founding-director of the Security Tinkerers non-profit, an advisor to early-stage entrepreneurs, and a regular speaker at security conferences around the world.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Application Security

Cycode, a startup that provides solutions for protecting software source code, emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday with $4.6 million in seed funding.

Vulnerabilities

Less than a week after announcing that it would suspended service indefinitely due to a conflict with an (at the time) unnamed security researcher...

Data Protection

The cryptopocalypse is the point at which quantum computing becomes powerful enough to use Shor’s algorithm to crack PKI encryption.

Data Breaches

OpenAI has confirmed a ChatGPT data breach on the same day a security firm reported seeing the use of a component affected by an...

Artificial Intelligence

The CRYSTALS-Kyber public-key encryption and key encapsulation mechanism recommended by NIST for post-quantum cryptography has been broken using AI combined with side channel attacks.

IoT Security

A group of seven security researchers have discovered numerous vulnerabilities in vehicles from 16 car makers, including bugs that allowed them to control car...

Vulnerabilities

A researcher at IOActive discovered that home security systems from SimpliSafe are plagued by a vulnerability that allows tech savvy burglars to remotely disable...

Risk Management

The supply chain threat is directly linked to attack surface management, but the supply chain must be known and understood before it can be...