Vulnerability Snapshot
CVE-2017-6548 is rated CRITICAL — exploitation is trivial or already observed in the wild and impact is severe. Patch immediately, not on the next maintenance window.
Affected technology: rt-ac53_firmware, rt-ac53.
Executive Summary
Buffer overflows in networkmap on ASUS RT-N56U, RT-N66U, RT-AC66U, RT-N66R, RT-AC66R, RT-AC68U, RT-AC68R, RT-N66W, RT-AC66W, RT-AC87R, RT-AC87U, RT-AC51U, RT-AC68P, RT-N11P, RT-N12+, RT-N12E B1, RT-AC3200, RT-AC53U, RT-AC1750, RT-AC1900P, RT-N300, and RT-AC750 routers with firmware before 3.0.0.4.380.7378; RT-AC68W routers with firmware before 3.0.0.4.380.7266; and RT-N600, RT-N12+ B1, RT-N11P B1, RT-N12VP B1, RT-N12E C1, RT-N300 B1, and RT-N12+ Pro routers with firmware before 3.0.0.4.380.9488; and Asuswrt-Merlin firmware before 380.65_2 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on the router via a long host or port in crafted multicast messages.
Why It Matters
CVE-2017-6548 is rated CRITICAL severity, requiring immediate attention from security teams.
CVSS Base Score: 9.8/10
Affected Technologies
Vendors: asus
Products: rt-ac53_firmware, rt-ac53
🛡️What Defenders Should Check
Use Vulnios to continuously monitor your exposure to CVE-2017-6548 and similar vulnerabilities.
References & Sources
How Vulnios Detects This
Vulnios scans for this vulnerability using Trivy and Grype for SBOM-based CVE matching and Vulnios CVE feed continuous monitoring against your asset inventory. Run a scan against your environment to see whether you are exposed; findings are linked back to the original CVE record so triage starts with the patch path already known.
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Affected Products
Sources
Related Threat Alerts
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2017-6548?
CVE-2017-6548 is a critical-severity vulnerability tracked under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program. Buffer overflows in networkmap on ASUS RT-N56U, RT-N66U, RT-AC66U, RT-N66R, RT-AC66R, RT-AC68U, RT-AC68R, RT-N66W, RT-AC66W, RT-AC87R, RT-AC87U, RT-AC51U, RT-AC68P, RT-N11P, RT-N12+, RT-N12E B1, RT-AC
Am I affected?
Check whether your environment runs rt-ac53_firmware, rt-ac53. If you operate any of those, treat yourself as in scope until you have evidence otherwise. A Vulnios scan will identify the exact assets carrying the affected version.
How urgent is the response?
Critical: do not wait for your normal patch cycle. Verify exposure today, apply the vendor patch immediately, and add detection rules for any post-exploit indicators.
How do I remediate?
Apply the vendor patch listed in the upstream advisory linked under Sources. If the patch is not yet available, follow the vendor-supplied workaround (often a config flag or feature disable) and add detections for the published exploit pattern in your SIEM. Re-scan after the patch lands to confirm the finding clears.
Where can I track exploitation activity?
Watch CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for CVE-2017-6548. Cross-reference with public exploit databases and your own SIEM/IDS for indicator-of-compromise patterns. Vulnios tracks KEV status automatically and surfaces it on the asset findings view.
How does Vulnios help with this?
Vulnios continuously cross-references your asset inventory against the live CVE feed (NVD, vendor advisories, CISA KEV, and curated OSINT). When a new CVE matches your environment, you get a prioritized finding with the severity, KEV status, exploit-prediction (EPSS), and a direct path to the vendor patch. You can start a free scan from the homepage.
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