CVE-2024-57234: Critical Command Injection Vulnerability in NETGEAR RAX5

Overview

The cybersecurity world has been rocked by the discovery of a critical vulnerability in the NETGEAR RAX5 (AX1600 WiFi Router), an essential piece of networking equipment used by many businesses and individuals globally. This flaw, identified as CVE-2024-57234, exposes users to potential system compromise or data leakage. Given the severity of this vulnerability and the widespread use of the affected product, it is crucial for all users and administrators to be aware of this issue and take immediate measures to ensure their systems’ safety.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2024-57234
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

NETGEAR RAX5 (AX1600 WiFi Router) | V1.0.2.26

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability originates from a command injection flaw in the ‘apcli_cancel_wps’ function, specifically via the ‘ifname’ parameter. Command injection vulnerabilities occur when an application passes unsafe user-supplied data (forms, cookies, HTTP headers, etc.) to a system shell. In this case, an attacker could manipulate the ‘ifname’ parameter to execute arbitrary commands on the system, leading to system compromise or data leakage.

Conceptual Example Code

Here is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited:

POST /apcli_cancel_wps HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
ifname=;rm -rf /;#&submit=Cancel

In this example, the attacker is injecting the `rm -rf /;#` command into the ‘ifname’ parameter. This command will delete all files on the target system.

Mitigation and Prevention

As a mitigation measure, users of the affected version of NETGEAR RAX5 (AX1600 WiFi Router) should immediately apply the patch provided by the vendor. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, temporary mitigation can be achieved by using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to block or alert on malicious requests.
In the longer term, to prevent similar vulnerabilities, it is advised to follow secure coding practices such as input validation, parameterized queries, and appropriate error handling. Additionally, regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be part of the product’s life cycle.