# CVE-2017-6444: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service on MikroTik hAP Lite routers by sending excessive TCP ACK packets, leading to 100% CPU usage and requiring a reboot.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Mar 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j46g-4x3w-74pw

## What is CVE-2017-6444?

CVE-2017-6444 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mikrotik Routeros, published on 12 Mar 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The MikroTik Router hAP Lite 6.25 has no protection mechanism for unsolicited TCP ACK packets in the case of a fast network connection, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by sending many ACK packets. After the attacker stops the exploit, the CPU usage is 100% and the router requires a reboot for normal operation.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-6444?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mikrotik Routeros.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-6444?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-6444 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-6444 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-6444 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- MikroTik Router - ARP Table OverFlow Denial Of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Mikrotik Routeros

- [CVE-2018-7445](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7445/): MikroTik RouterOS Stack-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-86060](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-86060/): MikroTik RouterOS Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command (critical 9.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-14847](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14847/): MikroTik Router OS Directory Traversal (critical 9.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-67277](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-67277/): MikroTik RouterOS Missing Authentication for Critical Function (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-67279](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-67279/): Mikrotik RouterOS Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow (medium 6.9, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-6444 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-6444 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mikrotik Routeros, published on 12 Mar 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-6444 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mikrotik Routeros. 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-2017-6444/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6444/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-6444
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-6444
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-6444

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6444/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.