CVE-2017-18829

Vulnerability

A vertical privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the firmware of multiple NETGEAR fully managed switch models — including M4300-28G, M4300-52G, M4300-28G-POE+, M4300-52G-POE+, M4300-8X8F, M4300-12X12F, M4300-24X24F, M4300-24X, M4300-48X, and M4200 — running versions prior to 12.0.2.15. The flaw allows a low-privileged user to elevate their privileges on the affected device.[1]

Exploitation

The vulnerability is exploitable by an authenticated attacker with local access (low privileges). The CVSS vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H indicates low attack complexity and no user interaction required. An attacker would need valid credentials to the switch management interface or local shell, then execute a sequence of commands or actions to exploit the privilege escalation flaw, gaining higher-level permissions.[1]

Impact

Successful exploitation results in full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, as the attacker obtains high privileges (administrative or root) on the switch. This could lead to unauthorized configuration changes, network monitoring, data exfiltration, or denial of service.[1]

Mitigation

NETGEAR has released firmware version 12.0.2.15 to fix this vulnerability. Users are strongly advised to download and install the latest firmware for their affected model from NETGEAR Support following the standard update procedure. No workarounds are provided if the fix cannot be applied immediately.[1]