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I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET option)

SLK-Purdue
Luminary

I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET option)

I want to object in the strongest possible terms to NG updating my Orbi firmware overnight even though I had set the parameters for no auto-update.

 

Additionally, now that I have new firmware (v2.7.3.22), the "Enable TELNET" option has been removed!!!

 

I am sitting here with a new version that I didn't want and no way to control it via nvram parameters.  WTF Netgear?   The power of this equipment is the reason I bought it.  I get that Telnet can be dangerous for people without exerience but it also is the power of quality equipment for trained professionals.  Why remove a valuable feature?

 

I am heading back to older firmware and I don't want an auto-update if the new version doesn't have features I want.   How to I ensure that?

 

Scott

 

Scott

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 11
mmz06
Guide

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio

Hi there,

 

Facing the same issue, I could restore telnet access using the updated version of telnet-enable2.py, enabling back Telnet using V2.7.3.22: https://github.com/bkerler/netgear_telnet

I could push all my existing custom configuration (upnpc, automation, etc.) from here.

 

Hope this will help you as well...

Message 2 of 11
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio


@mmz06 wrote:

Facing the same issue, I could restore telnet access using the updated version of telnet-enable2.py, enabling back Telnet using V2.7.3.22: https://github.com/bkerler/netgear_telnet

I could push all my existing custom configuration (upnpc, automation, etc.) from here.


My goodness gracious.  This works on my RBR50 with firmware v2.7.3.22!

I have tried the python script on Linux.

Will try it on Windows and also the compiled versions.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Message 3 of 11
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio



Thanks for the link to nte. I will give it a try as well.  In the past, I had tried several tools that were supposed to enable telnet on Netgear routers and could not get them to work.  Might have been my own incompetence.  Will be interesting to see if I can get nte to work.

 

I downloaded the Python program (script? shows how little I know about Python) today and put in on a laptop running Mint Linux.

The documentation is not suitable "for Dummies" (me), but eventually this worked:

./telnet-enable2.py <ip> <mac> <username> <password>

where <ip> is the IP of my Orbi running v2.7.3.22 (10.0.0.1 because it is actually connected to the Orbi that provides WiFi to my house))

<mac> is the LAN port MAC

<username> is admin

<password> is the web password

No quotes on anything.

 

Then, I opened a telnet session on the laptop to 10.0.0.1 and it worked!  I had tried to use the compiled version, but made dumb mistakes like leaving out the IP address. (why does it need both IP and MAC? Seems redundant.)  My next step is to restart the Orbi (wiping out telnet) and use the Python script on a Windows laptop.

 

The appears to be the "Magic Bullet" I need for when my Orbi updates to v2.7.3.22 by itself.  Every time my Orbi reboots (3-4 months), I telnet in and replace the stock Netgear Attached Devices web page with SLK-Purdue's version which sorts on every column.  No telnet means no Attached Devices that I like.

Message 4 of 11
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio

I have more to report:

 

  • Was not able to get nte to work on Windows 10. The program appears to have executed, but produces zero output and definitely does not activate telnet on the Orbi RBR50.
  • The python based Windows exe file cannot be copied because Windows 10 throws an error saying the file contains a virus.
    When I seem to have unzipped the exe file and try to copy it, it disappears.  Wanted to create a Firewall exception for it, but have been unable to even get it out of the zip file.
  • The Python script also failed  on Windows 10.  Not certain what I have done wrong.
    just get a string of error messages:
    Netgear LBR20 Telnet enabler V2 LBR20(c) B.Kerler 2021
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "C:\Users\Dick\telnet-enable2.py", line 496, in <module>
    main()
    File "C:\Users\Dick\telnet-enable2.py", line 487, in main
    if sendtelnet(ip, hash):
    File "C:\Users\Dick\telnet-enable2.py", line 446, in sendtelnet
    for result in socket.getaddrinfo(ip, port, socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM, socket.IPPROTO_IP):
    File "C:\Users\Dick\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\socket.py", line 953, in getaddrinfo
    for res in _socket.getaddrinfo(host, port, family, type, proto, flags):
    socket.gaierror: [Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed

For me, the Linux success may be enough.  And, maybe I'll figure out what's wrong with Windows tomorrow.

Message 5 of 11
mmz06
Guide

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio

Hi,

 

But i tried many other older implementations of enable_telnet, I could find over the past years that never worked for me, using MacOS/Python, but it was not really a big deal because I had the hidden debug.htm GUI option.

Now because of this major restriction introduced by firmware v2.7.3.22, which auto updates which is also a major concern to me, I chose to gave a try to new versions of this tool I could find in Github.

The tool I mentioned is definitelly not my work, but you can see it's been released quite recently, and it uses python3 which sounds to me like modernity as well, which is all the oposite of many other versions I could find which are anywhere between 3 to 10 years old.

I'm using it like mentioned in their readme page: 

python3 ./telnet-enable2.py <ip> <mac> <username> [<password>]

And guess what: I've been lucky, and that saved my day! Smiley Very Happy

Then I just couldn't keep this for me, and published my discover when I seen a few peoples where facing the same issue, with no solution...

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 6 of 11
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio

Thanks for mentioning the debug parameter.  It produces this:

C:\Users\Dick>nte mac=8c:3b:ad:c2:75:76 name=10.0.0.1 user=admin password=Fun4Kids debug
debug: 0xffffffff .
MAC0: >8c:3b:ad:c2:75:76<.
MAC1: >8C3BADC27576<.
user: >admin<.
pass: >Fun4Kids<.
getaddrinfo():
ai_family = 2, ai_socktype = 0, ai_protocol = 17
ai_addrlen = 16, ai_addr->sa_family = 2.
ai_flags = 0x00000004.
ai_addr->sa_data[ 2: 5] = 10.0.0.1
dns_resolve() sts = 0.
sock = 260, FD_SETSIZE = 64,
FD_ISSET( sock, &fds_rec) = 1.
pre-select(1). sock = 260.
select(1) sts = 0.
nte: FAIL. No ACK message received.

 

Here's the Python attempt:

C:\Users\Dick>telnet-enable2.py 8c:3b:ad;c2:75:76 10.0.0.1 admin Fun4Kids
Netgear LBR20 Telnet enabler V2 LBR20(c) B.Kerler 2021
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Users\Dick\telnet-enable2.py", line 496, in <module>
main()
File "C:\Users\Dick\telnet-enable2.py", line 487, in main
if sendtelnet(ip, hash):
File "C:\Users\Dick\telnet-enable2.py", line 446, in sendtelnet
for result in socket.getaddrinfo(ip, port, socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM, socket.IPPROTO_IP):
File "C:\Users\Dick\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\socket.py", line 953, in getaddrinfo
for res in _socket.getaddrinfo(host, port, family, type, proto, flags):
socket.gaierror: [Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed

 

My son keeps saying I should learn Python.  Maybe it can displace what little I remember of Cobol.

 

Message 7 of 11
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio

User error indeed. telnet-enable2.py works on Windows 10 once the parameters are entered in the correct order.  And, the author's warning about Windows Defender flagging the exe file as evil is correct.  Cannot even extract it from the zip file.

 

And... the Attached Devices web page from @SLK-Purdue works on firmware v2.7.3.22 as expected. Sorts on every column.

 

Thanks for diagnosing my error.

Message 8 of 11

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio

Ugh, what am I missing. None of these work on an RBR40 at v2.7.3.22 ?

 

nte: FAIL. No ACK message received.

 

telnet-enable2.py doesn´t work either.

 

Using the LAN MAC & IP address, router is in AP mode not that this should matter?

Message 9 of 11
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET optio

I use the Python script every time my RBR50 is rebooted. Have no idea why it would not work on the RBR40. On my first attempts months ago I did not include all of the parameters in the right order.
Message 10 of 11
koa132435
Star

Re: telnet-enable2 exe worked for me using Python39 on Windows 10 to enable RBR20 telnet

You all are very lucky. I have tried all of them on the RAX200 with no luck. 😞

 

I would like to understand the reverse engineering part. I can do some python but missing the recipe.

Message 11 of 11
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