Cisco has addressed multiple pre-auth remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities affecting several small business VPN routers and allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code as root on successfully exploited devices.
The root user is the system's superuser on Unix operating systems, a special user account usually used only for system administration tasks.
The security bugs with a severity rating of 9.8/10 were found in the web-based management interface of Cisco small business routers.
"These vulnerabilities exist because HTTP requests are not properly validated," Cisco explains in an advisory published earlier today.
"An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending a crafted HTTP request to the web-based management interface of an affected device."
Security update available for all vulnerable routers
According to Cisco, the following Small Business Routers are vulnerable to attacks attempting to exploit these vulnerabilities if running a firmware version earlier than Release 1.0.01.02:
RV160 VPN Router
RV160W Wireless-AC VPN Router
RV260 VPN Router
RV260P VPN Router with POE
RV260W Wireless-AC VPN Router
Cisco says that its Dual WAN Gigabit VPN Routers (including RV340, RV340W, RV345, and RV345P) are not affected.
The company has fixed the vulnerabilities in firmware releases 1.0.01.02 and later issued for all impacted routers.
To update your router to the latest release, you have to go to the Cisco Software Center and follow this procedure:
Click Browse all.
Choose Routers > Small Business Routers > Small Business RV Series Routers.
Choose the appropriate router.
Choose Small Business Router Firmware.
Choose a release from the left pane of t ..
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