CVE-2021-38538

Certain NETGEAR devices are affected by stored XSS. This affects D7800 before 1.0.1.56, R7800 before 1.0.2.68, R8900 before 1.0.4.26, R9000 before 1.0.4.26, RAX120 before 1.0.0.78, RBK20 before 2.3.5.26, RBR20 before 2.3.5.26, RBS20 before 2.3.5.26, RBK40 before 2.3.5.30, RBR40 before 2.3.5.30, RBS40 before 2.3.5.30, RBK50 before 2.3.5.30, RBR50 before 2.3.5.30, RBS50 before 2.3.5.30, and XR500 before 2.3.2.56.

Published: 2021-08-10 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-38538 is rated Low Risk (36.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.40%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-38538

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.25% 0.40% +0.15%
2 2025-11-21 0.31% 0.25% -0.06%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.31% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-38538

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.0 5.2 [email protected]
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 2.7 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-38538

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-38538

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
netgear d7800_firmware < 1.0.1.56 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:d7800_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear r7800_firmware < 1.0.2.68 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:r7800_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear r8900_firmware < 1.0.4.26 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:r8900_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear r9000_firmware < 1.0.4.26 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:r9000_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax120_firmware < 1.0.0.78 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax120_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbk20_firmware < 2.3.5.26 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbk20_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbr20_firmware < 2.3.5.26 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbr20_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbs20_firmware < 2.3.5.26 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbs20_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbk40_firmware < 2.3.5.30 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbk40_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbs40_firmware < 2.3.5.30 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbs40_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbr40_firmware < 2.3.5.30 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbr40_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbk50_firmware < 2.3.5.30 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbk50_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbr50_firmware < 2.3.5.30 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbr50_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rbs50_firmware < 2.3.5.30 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rbs50_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear xr500_firmware < 2.3.2.56 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:xr500_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-38538

cvelogic Threat Intelligence