A critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability affecting several D-Link routers that reached their end of life (EOL) remains unpatched.
Tracked as CVE-2019-16920 and featuring a CVSS score of 9.8, the vulnerability was found in D-Link DIR-655, DIR-866L, DIR-652, and DHP-1565 routers, all of which are no longer supported, meaning that no patch will be released for them.
The issue can be triggered without authentication by sending specially crafted input to a “PingTest” device common gateway interface to trigger a command injection. An attacker able to trigger the vulnerability could achieve full system compromise, an NVD advisory reads.
Discovered by Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs, the security flaw was reported to D-Link a couple of weeks ago. D-Link has already confirmed the existence of this vulnerability and the fact that no patch will be released.
“These products have entered End of Service Life. There is no support or development for these devices. We recommend replacing the device with a new device that is actively supported. Using these devices are at your own risk, D-Link does not recommend further use,” the manufacturer says.
The company explains that an attacker could target the vulnerability to access a device’s web configuration without credentials.
According to Fortinet, the vulnerability starts with a bad authentication check, with the code flow executed by the device system even if the user isn’t authenticated.
“The root cause of the vulnerability is due to the lack of a sanity check for arbitrary commands executed by the native system command execution, which is a typical security pitfall suffered by many firmware manufacturers,” Fortinet explains.
Users are advised to upgrade to a supported device as soon as possible to ensure they remain protected.
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