CVE-2023-40478 NETGEAR RAX30 Telnet CLI passwd Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Network-adjacent attackers can execute arbitrary code as root on NETGEAR RAX30 routers via a stack-based buffer overflow in the Telnet CLI.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2023-40478?
CVE-2023-40478 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in NETGEAR RAX30, published on 3 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
NETGEAR RAX30 Telnet CLI passwd Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of NETGEAR RAX30 routers. Although authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability, the existing authentication mechanism can be bypassed.
The specific flaw exists within the telnet CLI service, which listens on TCP port 23. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-20009.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40478?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Netgear Rax30 Firmware.
How do I fix CVE-2023-40478?
No fix has been published for CVE-2023-40478 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2023-40478 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-40478 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in NETGEAR RAX30
- CVE-2025-44658 File upload in n/a
- CVE-2023-1327 Auth bypass in Netgear RAX30 (AX2400)
- CVE-2023-27852 Memory corruption in NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi6 Router
- CVE-2023-27853 Other in NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi6 Router
- CVE-2023-51635 NETGEAR RAX30 fing_dil Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as GHSA-pq3r-x8gq-g8xm.