Re: GOOGLE CHROME ERROR PAGE - DUE TO NULLS IN HEADER OF ROUTER SETTINGS PAGE

Retired_Member · ‎2019-02-06

There is an emerging issue for users of Google Chrome Browser

My NetGear Router D7000 – Nighthawk AC1900 WiFi VDSL/ADSL Modem Router

If I try to access http://192.168.0.1/ using Chrome, Chrome gives an error page.

Accoding to Googles Chromium Developers, this issue can only be solved by NetGear, so for all routers which have this issue, they will need a firmware update to solve the problem of having Nulls in the Header of the Router Setup Pages

Before commenting, please read the following discussion at Chromium Issues :

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=929170

See also the linked Duplicate issue there.

Note the usual advice has all been tried, clearing cache etc.

If I use Microsoft Edge Browser logging in to my router is not a problem. I also temporarily installed the NetGear Genie and tried logging in to the router with that .. Again no issues.

But for however many people out there will be trying to login to similar routers with todays number 1 market share browser, Google Chrome, they will not be able to get access if they are running the latest Stable version of Chrome, v72 or later.

I guess not all router models will have such issues, unless they all have Nulls in their setup pages headers for some strange reason ?

But it looks like the Chromium devs are unwilling to undo this change, because Nulls can potentially cause issues.

Lastly :

How do we get someone within NetGear Development to take notice of this issue ???

Contacting someone in an appropriate department in NetGear seems to be an impossible task so far, I fired an email to sales@ with a note to pass it on to someone relevant, but I dont have high hopes of that working, and have not received any kind of response / acknowledgement.

antinode · ‎2019-02-06

> [...] having Nulls in the Header of the Router Setup Pages [...]

Has the source and/or location of the NUL characters been determined?

michaelkenward · ‎2019-02-07

@Retired_Member wrote:

I guess not all router models will have such issues, unless they all have Nulls in their setup pages headers for some strange reason ?

No issue here with R7800 on latest firmware.

Contacting someone in an appropriate department in NetGear seems to be an impossible task so far, I fired an email to sales@ with a note to pass it on to someone relevant, but I dont have high hopes of that working, and have not received any kind of response / acknowledgement.

Something for @DarrenM, @ChristineT or one of the other fine Netgear minders here.

Retired_Member · ‎2019-02-07

@antinode wrote:

> [...] having Nulls in the Header of the Router Setup Pages [...]

Has the source and/or location of the NUL characters been determined?

See comment #9 by mmenke@chromium.org on the Chromium issue page linked in the OP

[quote]

It's definitely returning nulls, and no proxy in use, so this is likely coming directly from the modem:

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
Set-Cookie: <not including this here, though it's just a session token>
Server: 
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2019 04:56:14 GMT
WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="NETGEAR D7000"
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Language: en-US,en;q=0.9
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
<NULL>
9
X-XSS-Protection: 1;mode=block
<NULL>
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
<NULL>Connection: close


I assume you've tried updating your firmware?

[/quote]

The information was gleaned from a log I created, and the source is from the router

Those <NULL> lines are the problem, and why Chrome v72 or above will not access a router page which contains them.

Obviously not all router models will have the same issue, nor use the same firmware.

Retired_Member · ‎2019-02-07

Something for @DarrenM, @ChristineT or one of the other fine Netgear minders here.

Thank you I have PM'd Darren, fingers crossed he will be able to ping the relevant department.

Edit : Good news - Darren has escalated this to their engineers 🙂

michaelkenward · ‎2019-02-08

Nice one. Let's hope that they get a response.

gbensonii · ‎2019-02-08

I can confirm that this is happening on my router (Netgear C6300 - Firmware V3.01.26) as well. I am running a network with several Windows 10 systems networked together using the C6300 and other devices.

When I use Google Chrome and go to http://192.168.0.1 I get the error:

This page isn’t working

192.168.0.1 sent an invalid response.

antinode · ‎2019-02-08

"Google Chrome Browser" is not a very detailed description of
anything. I seldom use Chrome on my Macs, so I know nothing, but around
here:

Version 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit) worked.
Version 72.0.3626.96 (Official Build) (64-bit) fails.

I have "Automatic updates are turned on", so additional testing would
involve actual effort.

baget · ‎2019-02-09

I'm having the same issue, after upgrading the firmware.

gbensonii · ‎2019-02-09

@antinode - The version I am using that fails is Google Chrome Version 72.0.3626.96 (Official Build) (32-bit) with autoupdates turned on.

Retired_Member · ‎2019-02-09

Chromium developers have already determined which version of Chrome introduced the problem, see comment #5 here https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=927364

(thats the issue my issue on chromium.org was merged with, see comment #14)

Retired_Member · ‎2019-02-09

I'm having this issue on my c6300|ac1750 cable modem / router / wifi device and detailed it in the duplicate issue post https://community.netgear.com/t5/Cable-Modems-Routers/chrome-cannot-access-192-168-0-1-routerlogin-c...

As noted in that duplicate issue post i've got spectrum [ / time warner cable ] deployed firmware version V2.01.26 and am running windows 10 october 2018 update [ version 1809 / 17763.292 ] with current chrome 72.0.3626.92 install and the out of the box edge and internet explorer browsers work.

Is the state of this problem that we are not waiting for a netgear firmware update, that spectrum [ / time warner cable ] pushes out, or an updated chrome browser drop?

herexf · ‎2019-02-10

Thank you

I assumed my router got some issue, then I tried reset and re-flashed the firmware via tftp.

Spent 3 hours....

Because I'm using android phone, so whatever my laptop or mobile, both cannot connect to 192.168.0.1....

Rafe_C · ‎2019-02-18

Same error

Loaded new firmware - doesn't change it

Cannot use Chrome to access the router - other browsers and Genie ok (Except genie is unusable because it is tiny on my 4k screen).

... Ralph

Lluke · ‎2019-02-18

I've tried to reply twice with an excerpt of Chromes NetLog output that shows the null bytes in the header and both have been quarantined.

So I won't post it again, but I can confirm that when connecting to the admin page of my D7000 (current firmware 1.0.1.70) null bytes are included in the http header response and Chrome 72 (and 73 beta) will refuse to connect with a ERR_INVALID_HTTP_RESPONSE message.

Tiberious4691 · ‎2019-02-20

I am experiencing exactly the same issue

This page isn’t working

192.168.100.104 sent an invalid response.

I have been working in IT and supporting networks for 20 years so I have a bit of an idea of what is supposed to happen, Netgear have been caught short again by not following significant changes in browser development. Google will not change or compromise the security of their world dominating browser so perhaps Netgear should get on board and provide updated firmware as quickly as possible to solve this issue. A quick inspection of the HTTP div frame and body being returned displayed far too many NULLS against numerous settings nearly 100 of them! If you use firefox like other members have done, it is a work around for now, Firefox are likey to follow suit as will Microsoft Edge, what Google does today the others will do tomorrow. In essence if Netgear do not release an update soon to fix this problem none of us will be able to access the routers admin pages!! This would render the router useless when a problem occurs as it often does. £165 for the D7000 I expected this to be better supported. I will assess the next router I buy with a little more caution. The problem only exists currently for Google Chrome users using the current version 72 or later. The issue does not exist on earlier versions.

blanchg · ‎2019-02-20

Same issue here, good job finding the root cause, now we just need an update to fix this

Mattaus · ‎2019-02-26

Hello All In Netgear Community Netgear D7000 V1 Modem Are Now End Of Life And No Longer Doing Firmware And They Are Not Going To Fixed Issue With Google Chrome Issue Where You Cant Access Modem Login Page.

Message From Netgear

I would like to provide an update about this case. According to Engineering, the issue has something to do with Google update anyways other browsers are safe to use when accessing the modem's interface. If you really want to use Chrome, workaround is to downgrade the chrome's software to previous version. Also, they wont be able to provide firmware updates for the device anymore because the unit is tagged as EOL unfortunately.

Regards,

Angel 46346
NETGEAR L2 Support

I Have Other Devices In My House Tp-link TL-WR1043ND Till Working And Can Access Chrome With The Router Login And Last Update For That Was 2015. Netgear D7000 Final Update 1.0.1.70 On January 4 2019. I Feel Angry How They Only Supports It For 3 Year And How My Tp Link TL-1043 Is Still Work On Google They Should Do One Last Update To Fixed This Issue. Very Angry 😡

xyzzy422 · ‎2019-02-27

It's only a matter of time until other browsers also reject the malformed HTTP the router is producing. Then what? I dare Netgear to honestly place, "Our products do NOT work with Chome, use another web browser." on all their project pages. Chome is currently the first browser suggest to use with all Netgear router's web interfaces on Netgear's support pages. Better change that.

All the nulls are really pretty bad. Code review should have caught that. Probably did, but someone said, "It seems to work ok now, who cares if it's messed up? If it breaks in the future it won't be our problem." Just shows a low standard. How many security holes did they also not care about?

Lluke · ‎2019-02-28

So my quite expensive, only 18 months old router is now EOL and can't be used with my browser...? I assume this means it won't be getting any security patches, not that I could install them anyway.

I won't be buying this rubbish again.

Mattaus · ‎2019-02-28

And They're Are Still Sell Them At Office Work I Went To Office Work Today And Saw Netgear D7000 V1. I Have submitted consumer affairs. This is similar to what apple has done with older apple device and try to make people buy new models.

michaelkenward · ‎2019-03-01

@Lluke wrote:

assume this means it won't be getting any security patches, not that I could install them anyway.

Just use a different browser. You will find it difficult to lay your hands on a Windows PC that doesn't have at least one alternative, Internet Explorer or Edge. Or wait until they mend Chrome.

Ironically, Netgear wants users to forget about the browser interface for router management. So you have an alternative that does not even require a PC.

Go here:

genie Landing Page | Apps | Discover | Home | NETGEAR

and reel back in amazement as you see that there is a desktop app that you can use to manage your router, not to mention an app for an Android or iThing mobile.

The desktop genie is even easier to use than a browser to update your firmware.

Mattaus · ‎2019-03-01

Thank You I Have Download Netgear Genie Program On My Pc But It Doesnt Have All The Features From The Modem Setting From The Browser Version LIke No Advanced Settings & No Internet Setting Where You Can Add DNS In And Edit ETC And No Where You Can Backup The Modem And I Found The Program Very Tasky And Not Nice To Use Not User Friendly. The Browser Version Is So User Friendly And Easy To Use . I Will Use The Program For Some Thing But Will Keep Use Firefox Till It Does An Update And Then Stop Us Access The Modem Setting All Together And Then I Will Buy Myself A New Modem And It Wont Be A Netgear As They Dont Have Respect They Customer .

michaelkenward · ‎2019-03-01

@Mattaus wrote:

Thank You I Have Download Netgear Genie Program On My Pc But It Doesnt Have All The Features From The Modem Setting From The Browser Version ...

My answer was, as it says, to @Lluke and the silly comment

I assume this means it won't be getting any security patches, not that I could install them anyway.

That displays a profound ignorance of how these things work and what you can do to keep your router up to date,

Spouting that sort of bilge is dangerous. Some people might believe it.

I agree that the desktop app lacks some features, but that is where an alternative browser comes in. Unless, of course, you want to cut off you nose to spite your face and deliberately set out break your router.

Retired_Member · ‎2019-03-02

@Mattaus wrote:
Hello All In Netgear Community Netgear D7000 V1 Modem Are Now End Of Life And No Longer Doing Firmware And They Are Not Going To Fixed Issue With Google Chrome Issue Where You Cant Access Modem Login Page.

Message From Netgear

I would like to provide an update about this case. According to Engineering, the issue has something to do with Google update anyways other browsers are safe to use when accessing the modem's interface. If you really want to use Chrome, workaround is to downgrade the chrome's software to previous version. Also, they wont be able to provide firmware updates for the device anymore because the unit is tagged as EOL unfortunately.

Regards,

Angel 46346
NETGEAR L2 Support

I Have Other Devices In My House Tp-link TL-WR1043ND Till Working And Can Access Chrome With The Router Login And Last Update For That Was 2015. Netgear D7000 Final Update 1.0.1.70 On January 4 2019. I Feel Angry How They Only Supports It For 3 Year And How My Tp Link TL-1043 Is Still Work On Google They Should Do One Last Update To Fixed This Issue. Very Angry 😡

1. Hopefully that only applies to the older version 1 of the D7000, and not the version 2 which the first poster and myself are using

2. Are Netgear engineers really blaming this on Google Chrome update, and not on their own bad practices ? - I would suggest to Google engineers via the Netgear support you contacted that their engineers need to take a bit more of a closer look at the issue.

3. Are Netgear engineers really advocating downgrading the software version of google chrome (or indeed any derivative of the Open Souce Chromium project), to an older, less secure version with older issues still in place .. Permanently ? - I cant believe anyone in their right mind as a software developer would suggest such a thing.

I think you have been fobbed off by a netgear support desk reading scripts and making up answers as they went along .. Though sadly I can believe the version 1 of the D7000 is end of life. Might be time to vote with your wallet and buy elsewhere.