Researchers from cybersecurity company VulnCheck stated on Wednesday that more than 20 models of Chinese-made routers sold worldwide come pre-installed with backdoor software, potentially allowing outside parties to take over the routers and compromise other devices on the same network.
VulnCheck Chief Technology Officer Bainz discovered this backdoor and has named it “Endlessdoors.” The affected routers are manufactured by Chinese company Zbtlink and are sold globally under the Zbtlink and Wiflyer brands.
Bainz estimates that at least 100,000 such routers have been deployed globally, but the exact distribution is unclear, as is how many are in use in the United States.
He said that this backdoor automatically connects to a specific IP address and a domain name registered in China every 35 seconds. Whoever controls these domains can take over the routers and further access other devices on the same network.
He noted that most consumers who use these routers for small businesses or home offices are probably completely unaware of such risks. “If I put one in a university lab, it’s essentially an open invitation for someone to enter the lab and freely roam within the network. Such capability could have devastating consequences.”
The report states that this discovery intensifies Western concerns over the security risks of Chinese-made network equipment. Western governments have for years warned that hackers associated with China could exploit such devices to infiltrate networks and launch attacks. Beijing has consistently denied participating in or supporting any form of illegal cyberattacks.
In March this year, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), citing national security reasons, announced a ban on the import of new foreign-made consumer-grade routers, but subsequently exempted several non-Chinese companies.