CVE-2021-35973
CRITICALEPSS 86th pctlDescription
NETGEAR WAC104 devices before 1.0.4.15 are affected by an authentication bypass vulnerability in /usr/sbin/mini_httpd, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to invoke any action by adding the ¤tsetting.htm substring to the HTTP query, a related issue to CVE-2020-27866. This directly allows the attacker to change the web UI password, and eventually to enable debug mode (telnetd) and gain a shell on the device as the admin limited-user account (however, escalation to root is simple because of weak permissions on the /etc/ directory).
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 86% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-697 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2024-5217 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV | - |
| CVE-2020-5849 | High | 7.5 | 93% | KEV | - |
| CVE-2020-8864 | High | 8.8 | 80% | - | - |
| CVE-2025-3102 | High | 8.1 | 76% | - | - |
| CVE-2023-32571 | Critical | 9.8 | 35% | - | - |
| CVE-2020-8862 | High | 8.8 | 13% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2021-35973?
Upgrade wac104 firmware to 1.0.4.15 or later.
Is CVE-2021-35973 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2021-35973 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 3.1% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 86% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2021-35973?
CVE-2021-35973 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2021-35973 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for wac104 firmware (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2021-35973
Markdown
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.