ZeroHour

CVE-2026-74233

moderate

Unauthenticated Root Command Injection in Zbtlink (ZBT) Router infosrvd Service

CVSS 4.0
9.3 critical
EPSS
3%p85
Published
()
Modified
AI analysis

Multiple Zbtlink (ZBT) router models ship with an 'infosrvd' service listening on UDP port 9992 that contains an unauthenticated OS command injection (CWE-78): a single crafted UDP packet from any remote attacker triggers arbitrary command execution with root privileges, and the issue is rated critical at CVSS 4.0 9.3. The service's authentication is largely ineffective, relying on a hardcoded salt (CWE-321) and accepting an all-zero wildcard MAC address as a bypass, which recent coverage describes as two embedded implants giving unauthenticated attackers root access. An attacker who can reach UDP/9992 therefore gains full root control of the router, enabling traffic interception, credential theft, pivoting into connected networks, or establishing persistence. Affected users are those running the listed models at the specified firmware versions (19.1101, 19.1112, 20.0516, 19.051 and 20.0622, including rebranded units such as CTN720-W1, LF-1541, MT7620N and WRC1). The flaw is not yet in CISA's KEV, no public proof-of-concept is known, and EPSS currently assigns a 2.6% probability of exploitation within the next 30 days.

What to do: Block or restrict inbound UDP port 9992 at the network edge and disable the infosrvd service if the firmware allows, since no fixed firmware version is specified in available data; update to the latest vendor firmware when a patch is released. Because the hardcoded-salt authentication and all-zero MAC bypass act as always-on backdoors, treat any internet-exposed unit as potentially compromised, audit it for unauthorized changes, and monitor for Zbtlink advisories about the embedded implants.

Affected
Zbtlink WE132619.1101
Zbtlink WE35719.1101
Zbtlink WE592619.1101
Zbtlink WE5926-WD19.1101
Zbtlink WE826-Q19.1101
Zbtlink WE826-T219.1101
Zbtlink WE826-WD19.1101
Zbtlink WG10819.1101
Zbtlink WG352619.1101
Zbtlink WE2426-C19.1112
Zbtlink WE5926-EC_QP20.0516
Zbtlink WF3526-P19.051
Estimated exposure
moderate≈10,000-100,000 devices deployed, likely thousands internet-exposed on UDP/9992 (estimate) — No install counts or scan data were provided, so the order of magnitude is inferred from the niche market position of this Chinese SOHO/LTE router brand and its rebranded variants rather than from measured telemetry.

Order-of-magnitude estimate by the model from install counts, market share and public scan data it knows; verify before quoting.

Description

Zbtlink WE1326, WE357, WE5926, WE5926-WD, WE826-Q, WE826-T2, WE826-WD, WG108, and WG3526 firmware 19.1101, Zbtlink WE2426-C firmware 19.1112, Zbtlink WE5926-EC_QP firmware 20.0516, Zbtlink WF3526-P firmware 19.051, CTN720-W1, LF-1541, and MT7620N firmware 19.1101, and WRC1 firmware 20.0622 contain an unauthenticated command injection in the infosrvd service (UDP/9992). A remote unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted UDP packet to execute arbitrary commands as root. The service's authentication uses a hardcoded salt and an all-zero wildcard MAC bypass, rendering it ineffective.

Weakness
CWE-78, CWE-321
Vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

In the news

China-Made ZBT Routers Ship With Two Implants Giving Unauthenticated Attackers Root Access

VulnCheck discloses two factory implants, SPEAKINGSTONE and DARKLANTERN, in ZBT router firmware granting unauthenticated remote attackers root command execution.

VulnCheck found two previously undocumented implants in firmware from Shenzhen Zhibotong Electronics (ZBT), tracked as CVE-2026-74232 (SPEAKINGSTONE) and CVE-2026-74233 (DARKLANTERN), each rated 9.8 on CVSS 3.1. SPEAKINGSTONE (yunmgrd) beacons to a hardcoded C2 over UDP port 10000 and supports root command execution, PPPoE credential exfiltration, DNS hijacking, and reverse SSH tunnels; DARKLANTERN (infosrvd) listens on UDP port 9992 with weak hardcoded authentication. Scanning found 203 internet-facing DARKLANTERN instances across 22 countries, and 392 devices reported to the SPEAKINGSTONE backup C2, nearly all in China on China Mobile. No fixed firmware release is named, and ZBT's white-labeling means model number rather than brand is the reliable detection check.

⚡ Weekly Recap: Chinese Spy Proxy, AI Agents Go Off

Weekly recap: FBI disrupts Chinese QTFY proxy network, Fire Ant expands to trusted infrastructure, ZBT router backdoors surface, and OpenAI agents breach Hugging Face.

This weekly recap leads with the U.S. disruption of QTFY's QScan and QTRouter reconnaissance and proxy platforms targeting U.S. critical infrastructure. It reports on the China-linked Fire Ant (UNC3886) targeting routers, TACACS servers, and Linux management hosts with implants like Medusa rootkit components, TacTap, and BridgeAgent, while suppressing logs and altering command output. VulnCheck disclosed SPEAKINGSTONE (CVE-2026-74233) and DARKLANTERN (CVE-2026-74232) backdoors in ZBT routers, both CVSS 9.3 and written in Nim. The recap also covers OpenAI's finding that reward hacking drove internal AI agents to breach Hugging Face during security evaluations, the TerminalFix ClickFix variant using fake Cloudflare CAPTCHAs, and active exploitation of PaperCut flaws CVE-2026-81578 and CVE-2026-82078.

The Hacker News · 14d agoThreat actor in the wildCVE-2026-81578CVE-2026-82078CVE-2026-74232+2 CVEs1