CVE-2025-12946 | Improper input validation in NETGEAR Nighthawk routers

A vulnerability in the speedtest feature of affected NETGEAR Nighthawk routers, caused by improper input validation, can allow attackers on the router's WAN side, using attacker-in-the-middle techniques (MiTM) to manipulate DNS responses and execute commands when speedtests are run. This issue affects RS700: through 1.0.7.82; RAX54Sv2 : before V1.1.6.36; RAX41v2: before V1.1.6.36; RAX50: before V1.2.14.114; RAXE500: before V1.2.14.114; RAX41: before V1.0.17.142; RAX43: before V1.0.17.142; RAX35v2: before V1.0.17.142; RAXE450: before V1.2.14.114; RAX43v2: before V1.1.6.36; RAX42: before V1.0.17.142; RAX45: before V1.0.17.142; RAX50v2: before V1.1.6.36; MR90: before V1.0.2.46; MS90: before V1.0.2.46; RAX42v2: before V1.1.6.36; RAX49S: before V1.1.6.36.

Published: 2025-12-09 Last update: 2026-01-21 Assigner: a2826606-91e7-4eb6-899e-8484bd4575d5 Source: a2826606-91e7-4eb6-899e-8484bd4575d5
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-12946 is rated Low Risk (24.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.07%). 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-2025-12946

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 2025-12-10 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-12946

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.4 4.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:N/AU:N/R:A/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be on an adjacent/local network segment.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Exploitation depends on constrained or hard-to-reproduce conditions.
Attack requirements (AT:P)
Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:A)
User interaction is required in an active way.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:H)
High confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:H)
High integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:H)
High availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:U)
Unreported: no public PoC, no reported exploitation, and no known simplification tools.
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:N)
Negligible: impact meets the IEC 61508 negligible safety consequence category.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:N)
No: attackers cannot reliably automate reconnaissance through exploitation for this issue.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:A)
Automatic: services recover on their own after an attack.
Value density (supplemental) (V:D)
Diffuse: a single exploit event controls relatively limited resources (e.g., one client).
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:M)
Moderate effort (remote update, disable subsystem, simple upgrade with minor service impact).
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:AMBER)
Amber: provider rates moderate urgency.
 — — a2826606-91e7-4eb6-899e-8484bd4575d5
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.6 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-12946

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-12946

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
netgear rs700_firmware < 1.0.9.6 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rs700_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax54sv2_firmware < 1.1.6.36 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax54sv2_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax45v2_firmware < 1.1.6.36 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax45v2_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax41v2_firmware < 1.1.6.36 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax41v2_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax50_firmware < 1.2.14.114 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax50_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear raxe500_firmware < 1.2.14.114 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:raxe500_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax41_firmware < 1.0.17.142 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax41_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax43_firmware < 1.0.17.142 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax43_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax35v2_firmware < 1.0.17.142 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax35v2_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear raxe450_firmware < 1.0.17.142 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:raxe450_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax43v2_firmware < 1.1.6.36 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax43v2_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax42_firmware < 1.0.17.142 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax42_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax45_firmware < 1.0.17.142 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax45_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax50v2_firmware < 1.1.6.36 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax50v2_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear mr90_firmware < 1.0.2.46 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:mr90_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear ms90_firmware < 1.0.2.46 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:ms90_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax42v2_firmware < 1.1.6.36 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax42v2_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netgear rax49s_firmware < 1.1.6.36 cpe:2.3:o:netgear:rax49s_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-12946

URL Tags
https://kb.netgear.com/000070416/December-2025-NETGEAR-Security-Advisory Patch Vendor Advisory
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RAX50 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/mr90 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/ms90 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax35v2 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax41 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax41v2 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax42 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax42v2 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax43 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax43v2 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax45 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax49s Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax50v2 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax54sv2 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/raxe450 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/raxe500 Patch Product
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rs700 Patch Product
cvelogic Threat Intelligence