CVE-2023-30799
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2023-30799 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in MikroTik RouterOS that allows authenticated admin users to gain super-admin privileges via Winbox or HTTP interfaces. This enables remote code execution on affected routers. Organizations using vulnerable MikroTik RouterOS versions are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- MikroTik RouterOS
📦 What is this software?
Routeros by Mikrotik
Routeros by Mikrotik
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control over router, intercepting all network traffic, and using router as pivot point to attack internal networks.
Likely Case
Attacker with existing admin access escalates to super-admin, installs persistent backdoors, modifies firewall rules, and steals credentials.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if strong network segmentation isolates routers and admin access is tightly controlled with MFA.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploit code available in FOISted repository. Requires admin credentials but provides reliable privilege escalation.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.49.7 for stable branch, 6.48.7 for long-term branch
Vendor Advisory: https://mikrotik.com
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup current configuration. 2. Download latest RouterOS version from MikroTik. 3. Upload and install update via Winbox/WebFig. 4. Reboot router. 5. Verify version after reboot.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable HTTP and Winbox interfaces
allRemove attack surface by disabling vulnerable interfaces
/ip service disable www, www-ssl, winbox
/ip service set www disabled=yes
/ip service set winbox disabled=yes
Restrict admin access to trusted IPs
allLimit which IP addresses can access admin interfaces
/ip service set www address=192.168.88.0/24
/ip service set winbox address=192.168.88.0/24
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate MikroTik routers from critical assets
- Enable detailed logging and monitor for privilege escalation attempts on admin interfaces
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check RouterOS version via Winbox or SSH: /system resource printCheck Version:
/system resource print | find versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 6.49.7 or higher (stable) or 6.48.7 or higher (long-term)📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple privilege escalation attempts in system logs
- Unexpected super-admin user creation
- Winbox/HTTP interface authentication anomalies
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from router
- Traffic pattern changes after admin login
- Winbox protocol anomalies
SIEM Query:
source="mikrotik" AND (event="privilege escalation" OR user="super-admin" OR command="user add" OR command="user set")