Remote access to Netgear is disabled by default, but can be enabled by users, the company said. The vulnerability is very easy to trigger on any device where the ‘password recovery’ feature is not enabled, Kenin warned. It can also be exploited by a user on the same local- or wide area network as the router, Trustwave warned. The bug is exploitable remotely if the remote management option is set. The models are prone to a password disclosure that allows anyone to craft a simple request to the web management server on the device. Kenin said his research into Netgear routers started with a model in his own home but expanded to include more than 30 models by the manufacturer. The flaw affects more than 10,000 devices that can be accessed from the public Internet, but the real number of devices may number in the hundreds of thousands, according to a post by Trustwave SpiderLabs Security Researcher Simon Kenin. Research by the firm Trustwave found that thirty-one models of NetGear routers contain a flaw that could allow a remote attacker on one on the same network as the router to bypass the authentication feature of the devices and take control of them.

Small businesses including restaurants and cafés are heavy users of the devices and may be particularly vulnerable, the company warned. Weeks after the Federal Trade Commission sued the firm D-Link for what it says is weak security in its home, broadband routers, dozens of routers made by the firm NetGear are reported to also be vulnerable to trivial hacking attacks.

Small businesses including restaurants and cafés are heavy users of the devices and may be particularly vulnerable, according to experts at the firm Trustwave.

In-brief: Weeks after the Federal Trade Commission sued the firm D-Link for weak security in its broadband routers, dozens of routers made by the firm NetGear are reported to also be vulnerable to trivial hacking attacks. Trustwave said that a serious and easy to abuse flaw affects more than 30 models of Netgear routers totaling hundreds of thousands of devices, globally.

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