NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
AntiVirus No Longer Updating
Since 30th September, I have been getting an email from my RN214 advising me that the "Antivirus scanner definition file update failed due to download failure. Check your Internet connection."
I know that the internet connection is OK because Transmission BitTorrent client is working OK.
SSHing in and trying "freshclam" does not work either: I get
"WARNING: Your ClamAV installation is OUTDATED!
WARNING: Local version: 0.103.7 Recommended version: 1.0.9"
On the ClamAV website it says for v0.103 LTS, "DB downloads allowed until Sep-14 2025", so that is the likely cause:
https://docs.clamav.net/faq/faq-eol.html
Does anyone has a solution for this please? Either a way to update ClamAV on an ARM device or to fool ClamAV into still providing database updates?
My RN214 is running ReadyNAS OS v6.10.9 - will "upgrading" to 6.10.10 help to resolve this? From the latter's release notes I suspect not.
TIA
Paul
27 Replies
It appears that I had a similar problem 5 years ago, but in that case running freshclam manually every day was a temporary workaround which doesn't work now.
RN214 Failing to Update Antivirus | NETGEAR Communities
The solution back then looks to have been an OS update from Netgear - I don't hold out much hope for that this time! :-(
The solution back then looks to have been an OS update from Netgear
OS 6.10.6 (2021) updated ClamAV to 0.103:
They'd need to do that again (unless another user manages to do it, and publishes the deb file).
The current ClamAV is 1.4.3, so this could be a pretty heavy lift.
will "upgrading" to 6.10.10
No, that won't make any difference.
Does anyone has a solution for this please?
There is nothing you can do to resolve it. The ClamAV software on the NAS was built from source by Netgear, so only they can fix it. But since all ReadyNAS platforms are end-of-life, I doubt they will.
Thanks for the reply - you have confirmed what I had already suspected.
"The ClamAV software on the NAS was built from source by Netgear, so only they can fix it."
Just a thought, but would it be possible for users the build an up-to-date version of ClamAV from the source code on the ClamAV website? I have no idea how to go about this, though as a desktop user of Linux I know that some people like to build their own apps from source.
Or is antivirus too embedded in the operating system for this to work?
I'm guessing that the only thing I can do is to disable AntiVirus in the ReadyNAS GUI, to stop the database update failure emails?
I don't think that there is any point in running antivirus with an out of date database - is there?
Just a thought, but would it be possible for users the build an up-to-date version of ClamAV from the source code on the ClamAV website?
Netgear took their library repositories down, and you would probably need those to build the package yourself.
Their source is in their GPL
No idea what Netgear might have changed though, whoever takes this on might have to compare this version with the one on ClamAV's github.
I'm guessing that the only thing I can do is to disable AntiVirus in the ReadyNAS GUI, to stop the database update failure emails?
Yes.
I have been giving this some more thought:
Does anyone know if the virus definitions file that the ReadyNAS, (used to), downloads each day is exactly the same as the file used for more up-to-date versions of ClamAV?
If so, then I should be able to install the latest ClamAV on my Linux desktop PC and copy the database file across to the appropriate place in the ReadyNAS file structure.
Would that work - or is it too simplistic?
Can anyone tell me what the name of the ClamAV database file is and where it resides within the Linux / ReadyNAS file system?
Alternatively, ClamAV provide a tool called "cvdupdate" which is for organisations with multiple ClamAV installations to regularly update and mirror the datadase for their internal use which maybe could be used?
Thoughts anyone?
So much for lifetime support.
Where did you see lifetime support promised? But even if you did. they have labeled all ReadyNAS "end of life". It's not your life they are talking about.
I've also been seeing this over the last few days. Not really in the market for an upgrade just now, and suspect there are many other NAS owners whose kit is working just fine apart from this issue. No warning and it does feel like we've been left high and dry. Shame other options haven't been offered perhaps from other providers tied in with a firmware update.
No warning and it does feel like we've been left high and dry
ReadyNAS products have all been end of life for some years now, and my guess is that 6.10.10 will end up being the final firmware.
The version of Linux that it uses (Debian 8) was deprecated back in 2020, so there are no more security updates from the Debian community. Netgear took down their update server and their linux repository some months ago.
Back in 2017, Netgear did put people on notice that OS 4.1, 4.2, and 5 firmware updates had ended. Unfortunately, they've never done that with OS-6. While that is perhaps ok for routers and switches, IMO it is not acceptable for a NAS.
Netgear no longer cares about its users, which seems self evident, given their lack of response or assistance.
Is there any chance that someone can get Netgear to open-source their code so that others can step in to help the community? As well as an antivirus fix, an updated Samba would also be welcomed. If wishes would be accepted then a mechanism to fetch and self install Plex updates would also be welcomed.Perhaps someone with the appropriate knowledge and abilities can approach Netgear for the data needed to enable them to step in and help the community. The hardware is too expensive and good to be simply thrown out for the lack of a little TLC (tender loving care).
Netgear no longer cares about its users, which seems self evident, given their lack of response or assistance.
All ReadyNAS products are end-of-life, and AFAIK there are no resources working on ReadyNAS software anymore.
So they have no one left who can respond.
Is there any chance that someone can get Netgear to open-source their code
That has been asked before, but Netgear has been silent on the topic.
FWIW, IMO for this path to work there would need to be a competent community team managing the open source. As far as I can tell, there isn't enough interest in the community to pull that off.
While the hardware is robust, it isn't that competitive. It's fine for SATA storage, but no NVME support and the processors are aging (8+ years old at this point). No GPUs are another issue, especially for Plex and similar media server apps that support transcoding.
Are any of the original Infrant Jedi Knights around? They may have some corporate knowledge and influence left.
stopping CLAMAV of telling me the every time 'Antivirus scanner definition file update failed due to download failure', I entered the following command via a SSH-connection:
systemctl stop --now clamav-freshclam.timer"systemctl stop --now clamav-freshclam.timer"
What does that command do?
Does it keep clamav running, but stop the daily check for virus definition files updates?
If isn't running ClamAV with out of date definition files really no better than turning off Antivirus on the ReadyNAS because of the extra load on the CPU etc of actually running ClamAV?
Or, am I missing something?
Correct : it does keep clamav running, but stop the daily check for virus definition files updates
It's a shame there doesn't appear to be a 3rd party/open source solution that can be "plugged in" to give better protection, but I guess old signature is better than none.
That said, I've decided to vote with my feet and am weighing up a replacement NAS.
"I guess old signature is better than none."
But if virus signature files were needing to be updated on a daily basis, doesn't that imply that they go out of date quickly as new viruses are detected? Therefore, is there really any point to using AV with an old signature?
Since I switched off Antivirus on my RN214 a couple of weeks ago, I'm sure I can detect a noticeable speeding-up of the system, (I don't think that I am imagining it!).
It's personal choice at the end of the day.
Whilst some may argue that the greater threats come from malware etc nowadays, "traditional" virus threats still exist, so I'd prefer to have some defence against that. Just like their real world counterparts, they rarely go away altogether, but can lay dormant somewhere, awaiting an opportunity.
After all, once one gets on your system, there's no telling the havoc that may ensue.
Signatures are updated on a regular basis out of due diligence on the part of the AV providers, sometimes that's a brand new type of threat, others are variants on an existing threat where someone has tweaked an older instance - so the updated sig files help target that granularity.
Historically there have been cases of "old" viruses re-appearing and causing issues, and part of that was due to folks assuming older nasties were no longer a threat. All it takes is somebody, somewhere to open an old, infected file on an outdated or unprotected system, let's say a worm type, and that can then propagate at quite a rate if it finds similarly unprotected systems.
So what I'm saying there is don't discount historical threats, and a signature that potentially caters for that, although not subject to update is better than nothing. As for performance, there may be other ways to improve that, but my first stop wouldn't be to disable protection, up to date or not.
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
