CVE-2026-42373 CRITICAL

CVE-2026-42373: D-Link DIR-605L B2 Hardcoded Telnet Backdoor Credentials

Vendor D-Link
Product DIR-605L Firmware
Weakness CWE-798 · Hardcoded credentials
Published May 4, 2026
Last update May 5, 2026

CVSS base score

9.8/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction None
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What the vulnerability does

01Description

D-Link DIR-605L Hardware Revision B2 (End-of-Life, EOL) contains a hardcoded telnet backdoor. The device starts a telnet daemon at boot via /bin/telnetd.sh with the username "Alphanetworks" and the static password "wrgn76_dlwbr_dir605L" read from /etc/alpha_config/image_sign. The custom telnetd binary accepts a -u user:password flag, and the custom login binary uses strcmp() to validate credentials. Successful authentication grants an unauthenticated attacker on the local network a root shell with full administrative control. The device has reached End-of-Life (EOL) and will not receive patches.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

May 4, 2026 CVE published
May 5, 2026 Record updated