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Forum Discussion
Insecure WiFi on RBR850 when WPA2 used
Hello! Has anyone noticed that the Orbi creates an unencrypted WiFi network (as well as an encrypted one with the same name, and you only get to see the encrypted one on most phones)? My conf...
I'll correct that by first stating that it's likely 2 tech savvy people have noticed this issue (whereas scores of non-tech savvy people who may not know, have not). Also, depending on your country, this could make some people directly liable for (even unwittingly) running an open AP should it be abused.
I have already reset the AP twice and gone through the setup process. However I will follow your instructions and do it 'your way'. Regardless of this however, this is a serious bug and it needs to be addressed with a firmware update.
There will be many non-tech people who are unwittingly running an open, insecure network because of this.
I now have this working, the setup process is completley borked making assumptions about the network it is plugged into that it should not be. It is impossible to use the normal setup process, so I eventually worked around it.m
Setup assumption that it can always have 192.168.1.1 (it cannot, another device has that on this network).
Setup assumption that I want to use this as a router and not a simple AP. (I have a proper firewall for my gateway, orbi will never be more than an AP)
Setup assumption that the wifi name I choose is not already active (as being retired, but not yet). This completley screws up the setup process.
Additionally:
Netgear-Guest appears randomly each time the orbi devices are rebooted. This should never happen, even for a second as it's not configured.
If the setup fails to complete for whatever reason, an insecure AP will be created on 5G alongside an encrypted one. The app will not notify you have an insecure network, and will not sync the proper settings to the satellite routers to secure the network. Only a full reset cures this and working around issues with the setup.
There is no notification to the user that the network is in this insecure state, so they don't know to fix it. This could be trivial to put into the app as you could be in deep water in some countries for running an open AP (GPDR, anti terrorism laws relating to WiFi(I kid not), etc).
All of this stems from inadequate testing.
To answer your previous questions regarding firmwares, I was able to reproduce this on the original factory firmware and the latest firmware (as in my screenshot). All orbis were in the same room. Firmware was updated manually. The app will also let you abort the setup process halfway through (and then let you in as if it was fully completed). I used the web interface in all instances to configure the router (after realising that the app was, basically, "not good at all")
I'm wondering if this is worth a CVE as there will be people unawares that they are running an open access point.
Just to add to this, another bug:
Setup the main and satellites in the same room (eventually) all working fine.
Move the satellites to their respective locations - one of them has wired backhaul.
Watch in amazement as that paticular satellite no longer appears on the 'attached devices' list, yet is somehow working, but can't be re-added to the list so I can't remotely see what it's status is anymore.
Also, web firmware crashes in said sattelite when you do anything other than view the initial web page - clicking on a link borks it.
Not impressed. Firmware. Seemingly written and tested by noddy.
What FW version are you actually using?
The one as in the screenshot 3.2.18.1. Which has the same behaviour as the previous 'factory installed' firmware 3.2.16.22
Well this was working, then I rebooted the main unit, and bang the satellites are back to unencrypted.
Edit: So far this looks like something is happening to cause the satellites to not pull their configuration correcly from the main device. I will narrow this down now that I know this can(very worryingly) be triggered at any time after configuration has finished.
