Question Asus router outage of 2023

[Ranulf]

FYI, if anyone is running an Asus router...if you've been having random crashes and loss of internet connection the past two days, it has apparently been fixed after two days of problems. Just a reboot is needed or update the firmware after saving your settings, even if its the same firmware.

TLDR: Asus put out a bad security update file that was causing routers to have a memory leak/cpu overheat problem.


Ars' news article:


' “On the 16th, Asus pushed a corrupted definition file for ASD, a built-in security daemon present in a wide range of their routers,” one person wrote. “As routers automatically updated and fetched the corrupted definition file, they started running out of filesystem space and memory and crashing.” '

It took 48 hours, but the mystery of the mass Asus router outage is solved

Asus finally responds after being castigated by users.

arstechnica.com

Good thread on people dealing with the problem:

RT-AX89X suddenly started using a lot more CPU and memory leak leads to lockup every ~10mins

EDIT: As of May 19th, the issue should be fixed for everyone. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/05/asus-fixes-error-that-caused-mass-router-outage-worldwide-for-2-days/ At around 2am the router locked up. Rebooting and troubleshooting I found that CPU is much higher with...

www.snbforums.com

 

[mindless1]

Thanks. I only run routers that I can put DD-WRT on, and never upgrade firmware without letting others be the guinea pigs and report back how it works.

 

[Tech Junky]

Sad sad sad..... SNB folks were having a horrible couple of days. Asus is just one reason to roll your own router w/ Linux.

 

[igor_kavinski]

ASUS is starting to become a joke, seriously. All those profits from their exorbitantly priced products. It was criminal to charge that much. Crime does not pay. Did you learn that now, ASUS?

 

[pauldun170]

My trusty rt ac68 had the issue the other day but later on Asus released the firmware update that fixed it.

Was the first time I've had an issue with it after years of service. Asus still releases updates for it and update time is the only time it gets restarted. Honestly, since the it was fixed fairly quickly I don't really have any reservations about Asus.
However , it put the upgrade bug in my head to upgrade the old girl and picked up an ax86 pro.
So far very happy with it.