What it is
CVE-2017-5521 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting NETGEAR Routers. An issue was discovered on NETGEAR R8500, R8300, R7000, R6400, R7300, R7100LG, R6300v2, WNDR3400v3, WNR3500Lv2, R6250, R6700, R6900, and...
Vulnerability report
Exploited in the wild
Confirmed confidence
In CISA KEV
CVE-2017-5521
Routers
NETGEAR / Routers
- Severity
- CVSS 8.1 · High
- Confidence
- Confirmed
- Exploit status
- Exploited in the wild
- EPSS
- 89.4%
- First observed
- —
- Last observed
- —
Decision summary
What security teams need to know first
Direct answers before the deeper technical record.
Is it exploited?
Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.
Who is affected?
NETGEAR / Routers.
What should we do?
Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.
Overview
Routers
An issue was discovered on NETGEAR R8500, R8300, R7000, R6400, R7300, R7100LG, R6300v2, WNDR3400v3, WNR3500Lv2, R6250, R6700, R6900, and R8000 devices. They are prone to password disclosure via simple crafted requests to the web management server. The bug is exploitable remotely if the remote management option is set, and can also be exploited given access to the router over LAN or WLAN. When trying to access the web panel, a user is asked to authenticate; if the authentication is canceled and password recovery is not enabled, the user is redirected to a page that exposes a password recovery token.
If a user supplies the correct token to the page /passwordrecovered.cgi?id=TOKEN (and password recovery is not enabled), they will receive the admin password for the router. If password recovery is set the exploit will fail, as it will ask the user for the recovery questions that were previously set when enabling that feature. This is persistent (even after disabling the recovery option, the exploit will fail) because the router will ask for the security questions.
- Published
- 17 Jan 2017
- Exploitation Reported
- 08 Sep 2022
- Attack vector
- Remote
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
Tags
edge
nuclei_scanner
cisa
CVE References
- CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5521
- 41205 exploit-db.com · Exploit https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41205/
- 95457 securityfocus.com · VDB Entry http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95457
- kb.netgear.com/30632/Web-GUI-Password-Recovery-and-Exposure... kb.netgear.com · CVE Record http://kb.netgear.com/30632/Web-GUI-Password-Recovery-and-Exposure-Se...
Exploitation evidence
Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited
Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.
Exploited in the wild
CISA
Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.
Proof of concept available
Nuclei Templates
Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.
Known exploited vulnerability sources
Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.
Learn about Pro API access| Source | Added |
|---|---|
| CISA First | 2022-09-08 00:00 UTC |
| The Shadowserver | 2026-07-11 00:00 UTC |
Detection
Operational artifacts and observed signals
Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.
Observed signals
- Request targets
- 0
- User-Agents
- 0
Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.
Scanner coverage
Nuclei template detected 25 Apr 2025.
View Nuclei template (opens in new tab)Virtual patch status
No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.
Learn about virtual patches →Scanner Artifacts
Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.
| Scanner | Reference | Detected |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclei | https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-5521.yaml | 25 Apr 2025 |
Risk and context
Severity, weaknesses, and research context
CVSS v3.1
8.1
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
89.4%
All CVSS Scores
CVSS v3.1
8.1
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v2.0
4.3
Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
Potential Proof of Concepts
These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.
NETGEAR Routers - Authentication Bypass
nuclei · Created Unknown
Timeline
From disclosure to observed exploitation
-
KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver
Exploitation attested by an external source
-
Public PoC available
Public proof-of-concept code published
-
Nuclei template available
Scanner coverage available
-
Added to CISA KEV
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
-
CVE published
Vulnerability disclosed publicly
-
CVE ID reserved
Identifier reserved by the CNA
Pro API
Automate this intelligence
Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.
- Evidence confidence and provenance
- First-party sensor telemetry
- PoC and scanner references
- Affected versions and enrichment
- Automation-ready JSON delivery
GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2017-5521
Free JSON includes basic KEV fields{
"cve_id": "CVE-2017-5521",
"confidence": "Confirmed",
"cvss_score": 8.1,
"cvss_estimated": false,
"epss_score": 0.89353,
"exploit_status": {
"exploited_in_the_wild": true,
"active_exploitation_observed": false
},
"sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}Early warning alerts
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