Netgear hit by scary bug in routers; yours in list? Know how to update

Netgear has advised customers to check if their devices are affected and install the latest update that fixes a dangerous bug on some of its popular routers. Here’s how to update your device and stay safe from this security flaw.

To stay safe from this routers bug, you need to install the latest Netgear update. (Pixabay)

Netgear recently issued a firmware update that resolves a bug in some of its popular routers, which could pose a security threat for users. The security flaw involves a parental control service provided by Netgear as part of its Small Offices/Home Offices routers, and the company has advised all of its customers with affected devices to update their routers immediately.

The Netgear bug which has been resolved is a flaw that can be leveraged to perform remote code execution (RCE) on an affected device – users can check the list of devices below. Techradar reports that the high severity flaw (which was assigned the ID CVE-2021-40847) has been patched by issuing a fix for the Circle, a third-party component that is used for parental controls in the router's firmware by Netgear.

According to the report, while a third party component should not have been affected by the flaw so easily, Circle would run with root permissions, which meant that it would function with elevated (or administrator) privileges, which made it as dangerous as if the bug were to be discovered in the core firmware of the router.

Meanwhile, all users with affected devices should install the update right away as the security bug also affects users who were not using Circle parental controls, according to the report. This is because the background update service for the Circle would run by itself, even if wasn't set up to block content or websites. According to a researcher from GRIMM that Netgear credited with identifying the bug, most of the danger could be avoided by disabling the update process if the service was not in use.

The affected routers according to Netgear's website are as follows:

Netgear R6400v2,

Netgear R6700,

Netgear R6700v3,

Netgear R6900,

Netgear R6900P,

Netgear R7000,

Netgear R7000P,

Netgear R7850,

Netgear R7900,

Netgear R8000,

Netgear RS400.

“NETGEAR strongly recommends that you download the latest firmware as soon as possible,” the company states on its website. To download the Netgear update, follow these steps.