# CVE-2017-5521: NETGEAR Multiple Devices Exposure of Sensitive Information

> Attackers can retrieve admin passwords from NETGEAR routers by exploiting a token disclosure flaw in the web management interface.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 8 Sep 2022 (CISA KEV)
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Jan 2017
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6cqf-r56h-g5xf

## What is CVE-2017-5521?

CVE-2017-5521 is a high-severity vulnerability in Netgear D6220 Firmware, published on 17 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-5521?

It affects 13 products.


Products: Netgear Ac1450 Firmware, Netgear D6220 Firmware, Netgear D6300 Firmware, Netgear D6300b Firmware, Netgear D6400 Firmware, Netgear Dgn2200bv4 Firmware, Netgear R6200 Firmware, Netgear R6300 Firmware, Netgear Vegn2610 Firmware, Netgear Wndr3700v3 Firmware, Netgear Wndr4000 Firmware, Netgear Wndr4500 Firmware, Netgear Wnr1000v3 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-5521?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-5521 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 29 Sep 2022.

## Is CVE-2017-5521 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2017-5521 in the wild since at least 8 Sep 2022.

Public exploit code:

- Netgear Routers - Password Disclosure (exploitdb)
- NETGEAR Administrator Password Disclosure (metasploit)
- NETGEAR Routers - Authentication Bypass (nuclei): http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-5521.yaml

## Other vulnerabilities in Netgear D6220 Firmware

- [CVE-2017-18848](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-18848/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-17372](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17372/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2016-11059](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-11059/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-5521 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-5521 is a high-severity vulnerability in Netgear D6220 Firmware, published on 17 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2017-5521 in the wild since at least 8 Sep 2022.

Affected product: Netgear D6220 Firmware. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5521/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5521/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5521
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5521
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-5521

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5521/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.