D-Link Routers at Risk of Hacking Due to Flaw
Table of Contents
- By Dawna M. Roberts
- Published: Dec 11, 2020
- Last Updated: Mar 18, 2022
A new report has come out that many D-Link VPN routers are at serious risk of hacking and remote control due to three major vulnerabilities. The report comes from an announcement by Digital Defense, an independent threat research firm.
The Issue
Back in August 2020, Digital Defense’s vulnerability research team (VRT) discovered the flaws in four D-Link product lines (DSR-150, DSR-250, DSR-500, and DSR-1000AC VPN routers running firmware versions 3.14 and 3.17).
Individuals and small-medium sized businesses use these devices. More people are working from home during the pandemic, and many could be connecting to the internet through these affected devices.
The flaw allows threat actors to connect with the router through WAN and LAN interfaces without authentication. That means they don’t need to log into it via the username/password combination, making it very dangerous and leaving victims exposed. The particular bug would allow a hacker to easily take complete control of the router and manipulate traffic, execute other types of attacks, and even gain access to other devices on the same network.
ComputerWeekly reported that Mike Cotton, senior vice-president of engineering at Digital Defense, said: “Our standard practice is to work in tandem with organizations on a coordinated disclosure effort to facilitate a prompt resolution to a vulnerability.
“The Digital Defense VRT reached out to D-Link, which worked diligently on a patch. We will continue outreach to customers to ensure they are aware and able to take action to mitigate any potential risk introduced by the vulnerability, he added.”
D-Link’s Response
Although Digital Defense alerted D-Link in August, the company released a statement on December 1 saying that the patches won’t be released until some time this month.
The Hacker News shared a quote from Digital Defense: “Consequently, a remote, unauthenticated attacker with access to the router’s web interface could execute arbitrary commands as root, effectively gaining complete control of the router.”
The defective component is called “Lua CGI” and allows threat actors to control the device without any authentication necessary. They can then execute malicious code or commands to take over other networked devices.
Digital Defense also let D-Link know about another potentially dangerous flaw in the router’s configuration at the time of the reporting, allowing hackers to inject rogue CRON entries. However, D-Link said it would not correct this issue. After fixing the other two flaws, without proper authentication, hackers could not effectively exploit this one.
D-Link and Digital Defense both urge corporate and home-based customers using these D-Link models to patch them as soon as the update is available.
Tips to Keep Your Router/Network Safe
Although defective hardware and software can make your home or business network vulnerable to hackers, there are ways to ensure the highest level of safety to keep the bad guys out.
Use WPA, not WEP - Older routers use WEP for encryption; it is an outdated and less secure method. Purchase a router that offers the latest version (current WPA3). For added protection, you can also use WPA with a shared key. If your router provides WPS (wireless protected setup), use it to connect devices without logging in.
Create Strong Passwords - Use a really long, complex, strong password made up of symbols (even spaces), numbers, uppercase, and lowercase letters to secure your router.
Limited Guest Network - You can set up a separate limited network for guests. This is especially helpful for small businesses who want to offer Wi-Fi while their customers wait.
Access Points - Scan your entire network for access points. Your employees or family members may have devices designed to boost your network signal, but if they aren’t configured correctly, they could put your entire network at risk.
Firewall - Be sure to configure and turn on your network firewall: a firewall controls and monitors traffic in and out. You can set limits for family members or employees (block sites they can visit) and control certain IPs that can/cannot connect through specific ports.
Hide Your Network Name - do to broadcast your network name if you don’t want rogue actors to see it or connect to it. Being invisible can mean the difference between being hacked or not.
Use a VPN - Use a VPN to mask your IP address and keep your network traffic private and secure.
MAC Authentication - you can also turn on MAC authentication allowing only specific devices to connect to your network. This gives you granular control over your entire network.
Even after doing all of this, you could still potentially encounter dangers. However, by implementing these security measures, you will have taken all the steps necessary to secure your network for the utmost security, privacy, and peace of mind.
