Security warnings from LG tv connected to RBR850

[AidanS]

I have recently begun to get multiple security warnings from my Netgear Armour software about my tv - a LG C2. The tv is connected by ethernet cable to my RBR850 router. Has anyone else experienced this and is there a solution? My Armour software is up to date as is the firmware on the tv. 

[AidanS · Accepted solution]

I have just downloaded the latest version of the LG software (03.30.45) and this seems to have resolved the issue.

[plemans]

More than likely it picked up a vulnerability. Just because the device is up to date, doesn't mean it doesn't have vulnerabilities. Many times they're discovered and then it takes a while to get patched. 

[Jeffgear]

My Orbi Armor has never complained about my LG B9 55” OLED which I’ve let auto update over the two years I’ve had it.

[JCvanDoorn]

I have a G2 and just activated Armor on my router as well and it picks up no less than 83! vulnerabilities on the LG G2 TV 😮

[Jeffgear]

Is it 1 vulnerability showing up 83 times due to a poor scan script or genuinely 83 separate ones, more likely the former unless your LG is really old firmware, in which case it could well have many vulnerabilities but the scan script still gives duplicates? 

However when I factory reset my system a few weeks ago and enabled Armor it report a similar burst for one of the RBS50 satellites, then never to reported any more again for it, so it sounds like a possible bug with Armor when it first scans. 

[JCvanDoorn]

Here's a screengrab of the first vulnerabilities. It's definitely 83 different ones. 

[Jeffgear]

How old is the G2 model and is it on the latest firmware? 

[JCvanDoorn]

It's a couple of months old and all software is up-to-date.

[Jeffgear]

You could send the scan results to LG Support. They may appreciate the heads up and issue an update with fixes, assuming it's still being reported as vulnerable by Armor. 

[CrimpOn]

Is there a method to tell Armor not to scan that device?

[Jeffgear]

I'm not aware of any options to disable the Armor scan but this sounds like a good feature request along with the option to exclude devices from being eligible for Armor Security I.e. for devices it thinks are eligible but are not, or work devices that you have no rights to install your own apps onto. 

[Aw_Shucks]

I purchased an LG 75UN9070AUD three weeks ago from Costco and connected it to my ethernet network RBR850 and the vulnerability check from Armor is showing 320 vulnerabilities! Both firmwares are up to date.

103 Miscellaneous

45 Memory overload 

11 Device Vulnerability

116 Device lock-out Vulnerability 

5 Memory corruption

Did you find any soluution? This one device (TV) brought my vulnerability score for the week down to 59? What should I do? Please let me know if I should be really concerned about this mess!

[Jeffgear]

That’s a lot of false positives or LG vulnerabilities! If the former then maybe Armor/Bitdefender will be alerted to this and whitelist them or the AI will reconcile this and your score will increase back up. I’d be surprised if LG let a highly vulnerable firmware version out in the wild.

[Aw_Shucks]

Thanks Jeff for the response!

I went ahead and moved the connection over to the guest network and it all got temporarily resolved. I'm sure the LG still has the vulnerabilities but it can no longer see or connect to other devices on the network, so it gives me time to further research what in the heck is going on. I'll keep you updated on what I find out. 

[JCvanDoorn]

Hi all, 

I recently updated my firmware in the LG TV, so I'm keen to see if there now are fewer vulnerabilities. However, my Armor shows that the last scan of the LG Device was done 61 days ago. Apparently, it's not re-scanning the devices regularly. Does anyone know how I can force a re-scan of the LG television?

[CrimpOn]

(There being no user manual that I can find....) Armor remains a "Black Box Mystery" to me.  Two possibilities:

• Perhaps Armor does not scan devices on the Guest WiFi network.  (Who cares?  Those are "guests" who are going away soon. Let whoever owns them take care of them.)  Try connecting to the primary WiFi network again?
• Maybe Armor scans when a device connects to the network.  Power the LG off (completely, pull the plug) and turn it back on again.

I lean toward the Guest hypothesis.  With that opinion and about $6 you can go to Starbucks.

[JCvanDoorn]

Hahaha, mine is not connected to the guest network, so that option is off the table. 

I will try an power it off completely when I get a chance and then see if it does anything. 
I do see an option to remove the device from Armor, but I'm not sure what that does. Could it be that it just hides it and then no longer protects it?

[CrimpOn]

---

@JCvanDoorn wrote:

I do see an option to remove the device from Armor, but I'm not sure what that does. Could it be that it just hides it and then no longer protects it?

---

Thanks for answering the question in Post #10.  People who are tired of Armor telling their LG is "vulnerable" have a way to say, "don't bug me about this."  Not sure how to test this since Armor appears to have quit complaining about the TV.

"no longer protects it".  A good  question.  Looking at the "Complete Feature List" is fascinating:

https://www.netgear.com/home/services/armor/#SetupArmor 

Many of the "features" would seem to be part of the basic router Firewall capability.

Some "features" apply only to Windows, Android, iOS devices (not an LG TV or smart door lock).

The "really cool features" are marked with an asterisk:

[JCvanDoorn]

So, I decided to take the plunge and remove the LG TV Device from my Armor devices. After giving the TV a new IP Address, I received a message that Armor had found the TV, scanned it, and found 112 vulnerabilities! So, it's definitely not a scanning error that first time, but definitely a choice between false positives or true vulnerabilities in the LG TV.

Also, instead of "just" 83 vulnerabilities, it now finds many more vulnerabilities. The firmware of my TV is fully updated and currently runs Software Version 03.30.16. 

Here's a list of the first bunch of vulnerabilities that are reported by Armor.

List of the first bunch of vulnerabilities reported by Armor.

[CrimpOn]

---

@JCvanDoorn wrote:

So, I decided to take the plunge and remove the LG TV Device from my Armor devices. .

---

The description does not match what I would expect removing the device from Armor would achieve.  I thought the goal was, "quit telling me about this damn TV.  I can't do anything about it."

[JCvanDoorn]

Well, since Armor did not initiate any new scans since the first one, I really wanted to see if the firmware updates in the LG TV made any difference. Seems it has only gotten worse. Still I don’t understand why Armor has almost no manual control to initiate scans and many other things.

[CrimpOn]

(Since I enjoy this sort of thing.....) it would be interesting to run some other "vulnerability scanners" against this LG television and see what they report.

nmap is a free scanner that has been around forever and has versions for Windows, Mac, and most Linux distributions.

https://nmap.org/download#windows 

[Jeffgear]

Yes it would be interesting to see what nmap detects. In my case I’d expect nothing or only informational things to be detected as Armor is not complaining about my LG B9 OLED at all. It’s on wifi but I wouldn’t expect an Ethernet connected LG to behave any differently unless LG are running a Linux firewall and wifi is given more protection as it’s perceived to be more exposed with inbound sessions blocked.

Changing IP address on the LG would trigger a new Armor scan as it would see it as a new device - it’s not interested in the MAC address that remains the same from a scanning perspective.

[CrimpOn]

The only TVs that seem to provoke Armor are LGs.  Beats Me.  If it only reported problems one time, I'd move on.

[Jeffgear]

You could log a ticket direct with Bitdefender Support here:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/

Scroll to the bottom and click contact Bitdefender Support then:
1. How to's & Troubleshooting Bitdefender product
2. Type of issue:
Troubleshooting
3. Which product do you need help with?
NETGEAR Armor powered by Bitdefender
Then choose email…

Good luck!