Your Netgear Wi-Fi router could be wide open to hackers – install the fix now

Netgear has resolved a couple of critical security vulnerabilities affecting several of its products. With the fixes in place, the company is advising affected customers to update their devices ASAP.

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One set of fixes patches an unauthenticated RCE (Remote Code Execution) security vulnerability, which could allow an attacker to remotely run malicious code on a targeted device without permission or authentication.

The Wi-Fi routers and access points affected

This issue affects three Wi-Fi routers: Nighthawk Pro Gaming WiFi 6 Router model XR1000, the Nighthawk WiFi 6 Pro Gaming Router model XR1000v2, and the Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router model XR500. The bug addressed here was rated Critical with a CVSS (Common Vulnerabilities Scoring System) score of 9.8.

The other set of fixes addresses an authentication bypass security vulnerability, which could let an attacker remotely access a device without authentication.

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This bug affects three wireless access points: the WiFi 6 AX3200 Dual Band Wireless Access Point model WAX206, the WiFi 6 AX4200 Dual-band Multi-Gig PoE Access Point model WAX220, and the WiFi 6 AX1800 Dual-band PoE Wireless Access Point model WAX214 v2. This flaw was rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.6.

How to patch your device

If your device is on the list, here’s how to patch it with the latest firmware:

First, head to the Netgear support page. Start typing the model number of your device in the search field, and then select it from the drop-down menu when it appears. On the product page, click the Downloads button. In the Current Versions section, select the download that starts with the words “Firmware Version.” If you see more than one version, choose the one labeled as a hotfix. Click the Download button for the firmware.

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Unzip the downloaded file. Open the extracted HTML file for further instructions. Otherwise, you’ll likely need to log in to your router, choose the option to update the firmware, and then select the update from the downloaded file. In some cases, you may be able to log in to your router and automatically check for and download the latest firmware.