How to hack an ethernet ADSL Router?

Almost half of the Internet
users across the globe
use ADSL routers/
modems to connect to
the Internet however,
most of them are
unaware of the fact that it
has a
serious vulnerability which
can easily be exploited
even by a noob hacker
just like you. In this post I
will show you how to
exploit a common
vulnerability that lies
in most ADSL routers so
as to gain complete
access to the router
settings and ISP login
details.
Every router comes with
a username and
password using which it
is possible to gain access
to the router settings and
configure the device. The
vulnerability actually lies in
the Default username
and password that
comes with the factory
settings. Usually the
routers come
preconfigured from the
Internet Service provider
and hence the users do
not bother to change the
password later. This
makes it possible for the
attackers to gain
unauthorized access and
modify the router settings
using a common set of
default usernames and
passwords. Here is how
you can do it.
Before you proceed, you
need the following tool in
the process
Angry IP Scanner
Here is a detailed
information on how to
exploit the vulnerability of
an ADSL router.
Step-1: Go to
www.whatismyipaddress.com.
Once the page is loaded
you will find your IP
address. Note it down.
Step-2: Open Angry IP
Scanner, here you will see
an option called IP
Range: where you need
to enter the range of IP
address to scan for.
Suppose your IP is
117.192.195.101, you can
set the range something
as 117.192.194.0 to
117.192.200.255 so that
there exists atleast
200-300 IP addresses in
the range.
Step-3: Go to Tools-
>Preferences and select
the Ports tab. Under Port
selection enter 80 (we
need to scan for port 80).
Now switch to the
Display tab, select the
option “Hosts with open
ports only” and click on
OK.
I have used Angry IP
Scanner v3.0 beta-4. If
you are using a different
version, you need to Go
to Options instead of
Tools
Step-4: Now click on
Start. After a few
minutes, the IP scanner
will show a list of IPs with
Port 80 open as shown in
the below image.
Step-5: Now copy any of
the IP from the list, paste
it in your browser ’s
address bar and hit enter.
A window will popup
asking for username and
password. Since most
users do not change the
passwords, it should
most likely work with the
default username and
password. For most
routers the default
username-password
pair will be admin-admin
or admin-password.
Just enter the username-
password as specified
above and hit enter. If you
are lucky you should gain
access to the router
settings page where you
can modify any of the
router settings. The
settings page can vary
from router to router. A
sample router settings
page is shown below.
If you do not succeed to
gain access, select another
IP from the list and repeat
the step-5. Atleast 1 out of
5 IPs will have a default
password and hence you
will surely be able to gain
access.
What can an
Attacker do by
Gaining Access
to the Router
Settings?
By gaining access to the
router settings, it is
possible for an attacker to
modify any of the router
settings which results in
the malfunction of the
router. As a result the
target user ’s computer
will be disconnected from
the Internet. In the worst
case the attacker can copy
the ISP login details from
the router to steal the
Internet connection or
play any kind of prank
with the router settings.
So the victim has to
reconfigure the router in
order to bring it back to
action.
The Verdict:
If you are using an ADSL
router to connect to the
Internet, it is highly
recommended that you
immediately change your
password to prevent any
such attacks in the future.
Who knows, you may be
the next victim of such an
attack.
Since
the configuration varies
from router to router, you
need to contact your ISP
for details on how to
change the password for
your model.
Warning!
All the information
provided in this post are
for educational purposes
only. Please do not use
this information for illegal
purposes.