Release ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.46061 (2022/01/14)

[Dodgydrains]

Version 3.0.0.4.386.46061
2022/01/14 55.79 MBytes
ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.46061
Security
- Fixed string format stacks vulnerability
- Fixed cross-site-scripting vulnerability
- Fixed informational vulnerability.
Thanks to Howard McGreehan.

-Fixed SQL injection vulnerability
-Fixed json file traversal vulnerability
-Fixed plc/port file traversal vulnerability
-Fixed stack overflow vulnerability
Thanks to HP of Cyber Kunlun Lab

-Fixed authenticated stored XSS vulnerability
Thanks to Luke Walker – SmartDCC

-Fixed LPD denial of service vulnerability
-Fixed cfgserver heap overflow vulnerability
-Fixed cfgserver denial of service vulnerability
Thanks to TianHe from BeFun Cyber Security Lab.

Added more ISP profile
Digi 1 - TM
Digi 2 - TIME
Digi 3 - Digi
Digi 4 - CTS
Digi 5 - ALLO
Digi 6 - SACOFA
Maxis - CTS
Maxis - SACOFA
Maxis - TNB/ALLO

Fixed AiMesh guest network issues.
Fixed DDNS issues where the WAN IP is IPv6
Fixed UI bugs in Administration --> feedback.
Fixed time zone error.
Improved the connection stability.

Please unzip the firmware file first then check the MD5 code.
MD5:f578a0940b97337f7f377d93f479c1c1

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/ZenWiFi_XT8/FW_ZENWIFI_XT8_300438646061.zip

 

[bradbort]

Does this have the fixes integrated into the latest beta?

 

[karma]

waiting for some brave souls to give this a try . i'm still on 42095 after having tried the other firmware updates.

 

[garysteel]

updated from 42095 (have two xt8's backhaul hardwired) If I note anything odd will post. Had no issues updating, I updated from 42095 to offered update that everyone hates and then manually updated each unit to 46061.

G

 

[slikr]

also on 42095 awaiting feedback also.

 

[crawfish]

I run a single XT8, and 46061 was a disaster for me. My Remote Desktop connection dropped twice in the first hour, when it had been stable for weeks between PC reboots on 45898. I also have a couple of mapped network drives, and simply opening Windows Explorer to "This PC" took 10+ seconds the first time in both my main machine and a VM I run on it. Restoring 45898 restored normalcy. WRT to dropping Remote Desktop, 46061 reminds me of when I was running two XT8's in mesh back in June 2021, with the remote computer wired to the mesh node, except it was even worse. Again, I'm only running a single XT8 now. I am using the second 5 GHz channel in AX mode and the 160 MHz channel for my remote PC, and I didn't bother doing any troubleshooting. I just moved back to 45898, which has been rock solid for months.

ETA: After reinstalling 46061 a second time and observing the same delays and more, as detailed in a follow-up post, power-cycling the router seems to have cleared it all up. Going on six hours without issue so far.

 

[RogerSC]

Well, I was on 42095 awaiting feedback, too...decided I'd check it out rather than waiting for someone else, easy to get back on 42095 if necessary. Flashed it last night, followed with a factory default reset. Aside from the lack of the "Preset Servers" field when I select DoT DNS, everything seems okay so far. Don't have many IoT clients, no Sonos, etc., though, so my experience may be different than yours. "Vanilla" would accurately describe my home network *smile*.

I did get DoT working by simply adding 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 DoT servers with the "cloudflare-dns.com" URL. That seems to be working fine. The cloudflare DNS test shows both DoH (from Firefox) and DoT working. I'm fine with doing this to get the security fixes between 42095 and 46061, quite an impressive number of them.

 

[Dodgydrains]

I run a single XT8, and 46061 was a disaster for me. My Remote Desktop connection dropped twice in the first hour, when it had been stable for weeks between PC reboots on 45898. I also have a couple of mapped network drives, and simply opening Windows Explorer to "This PC" took 10+ seconds the first time in both my main machine and a VM I run on it. Restoring 45898 restored normalcy. WRT to dropping Remote Desktop, 46061 reminds me of when I was running two XT8's in mesh back in June 2021, with the remote computer wired to the mesh node, except it was even worse. Again, I'm only running a single XT8 now. I am using the second 5 GHz channel in AX mode and the 160 MHz channel for my remote PC, and I didn't bother doing any troubleshooting. I just moved back to 45898, which has been rock solid for months.

Did you factory reset after updating to 46061?

 

[Ironlake]

Hello everyone,

I did initially a dirty update from 42095. Manually downloaded the firmware from asus website and on my desktop uploaded it and installed 46061.

On my wifi experienced 50% speed drops after using speed test. Both on router and node connection. Speed test done on samsung and iphone. On the desktop connected to the node via wired connection, speed was 100%. On my tv connected via the router and streaming from my server connected via the node their was connection drops during watching series on Plex.

Now, I just did a hard reset WPS method on the router and node and configured everything again from scratch. Speedtest was 100% on the phones, did not try desktop yet. Still no connection drop on Plex streaming locally from pc connected via the node wired.

I go through the trouble doing these updates for the security fixes. Hopefully it will stay stable for now. I always end up going back to 42095. I will report back if that is the case.

Update: Speedtest on desktop 100% as well via node through wired connection. Highly recommend to do a hard reset after install of firmware 46061 with WPS method. Still stable at the moment.

 

[aurizn]

Great firmware. Mesh node wireless backhaul connectivity is stable and I have yet to notice any stability issues.

Didn't notice any performance issue so far. Fingers crossed.

 

[bradbort]

Just updated from beta firmware. Had to manually install, since the auto update feature was still doing the last version of the firmware. So far, so good. Speed tests on clients is as fast as I expect it to be. I'll post back if I notice any instability.

 

[PeterZ]

I updated from 42095, did factory reset. I have ethernet backhaul and use all default settings (with Smart Connect) other than disabling 160MHz channel for 5GHz-2 band. I have >60 devices, including some nest cams, smart switches, Google Homes, phones/tablets. I can report that I still experience some intermittent disconnections from nest cams, not as stable as 42095 but definitely better than 45934 . Considering 46061 contains a lot of security updates coming from 42095, I may keep this firmware.

FYI, in the system logs, I see both "not mesh client, can't delete it" and "not mesh client, can't update it's ip" messages. I'm curious what the difference is between the two. Interestingly, one of the devices showing "not mesh client, can't update it's ip" is my hardwired Apple TV, so the message is definitely not roaming related.

 

[robgbc]

Early days so far, but I have 2 TP-Link KP400 (2.4) outdoor plugs, one near the main and one near the node and this is the first fw version in the past year where the KP400 near the node stays connected to it, rather than connecting to the main.

 

[pantsontoast]

I just tried upgrading to 46061 from 42095 and have the same problem I mentioned in this post. I have significant packet loss happening between the client and router, only when using Macbook Pros. No problems when rolling back firmware or using other device types.

 

[robgbc]

I updated from 42095, did factory reset. I have ethernet backhaul and use all default settings (with Smart Connect) other than disabling 160MHz channel for 5GHz-2 band. I have >60 devices, including some nest cams, smart switches, Google Homes, phones/tablets. I can report that I still experience some intermittent disconnections from nest cams, not as stable as 42095 but definitely better than 45934 . Considering 46061 contains a lot of security updates coming from 42095, I may keep this firmware.

FYI, in the system logs, I see both "not mesh client, can't delete it" and "not mesh client, can't update it's ip" messages. I'm curious what the difference is between the two. Interestingly, one of the devices showing "not mesh client, can't update it's ip" is my hardwired Apple TV, so the message is definitely not roaming related.

I'm seeing this same message regarding an iPhone

 

[crawfish]

Did you factory reset after updating to 46061?

No. I've since reinstalled 46061 and oberved more weird delays on my wired PC, such as Outlook taking 20 seconds to open after rebooting the PC, and my Autohotkey shutdown prompt taking even longer than that to appear. These are things that have never happened before. I'm loath to doing a factory reset on anything, but I did power-cycle the router (and reboot my PC again for good measure), and that seems to have cleared up the delays. Also, no Remote Desktop disconnects in three hours, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So, to anyone having trouble after updating, try power-cycling at the least. The design of the update process implies you shouldn't have to, but it seems to have helped me.

 

[Dodgydrains]

No. I've since reinstalled 46061 and oberved more weird delays on my wired PC, such as Outlook taking 20 seconds to open after rebooting the PC, and my Autohotkey shutdown prompt taking even longer than that to appear. These are things that have never happened before. I'm loath to doing a factory reset on anything, but I did power-cycle the router (and reboot my PC again for good measure), and that seems to have cleared up the delays. Also, no Remote Desktop disconnects in three hours, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So, to anyone having trouble after updating, try power-cycling at the least. The design of the update process implies you shouldn't have to, but it seems to have helped me.

Totally understand you not wanting to factory reset. For me it is the first thing I do, even though it takes an hour to manually add the settings back again.

 

[akb]

This did not solve the TP-Link kasa issue either. Have Legacy Mode and a lot of the things are just not stable at all.

 

[RogerSC]

Well, sorry to say that this new firmware doesn't play well with my Tablo DVR with the ZenWiFi in router mode. However, kept this firmware version and switched the ZenWiFi to AP mode. Using an RT-AX86U on latest RMerlin firmware as wired-only, main router, makes the Tablo happy and works fine with the ZenWifi in AP mode.

I'd love to find a replacement for the Tablo DVR that works as well. However, the only one that I've found, the HDhomerun, has other problems related to Silicon Dust's terrible HD apps, and the expensive Channels app that it needs due to the fact that the HD apps have such a bad user interface.

 

[bradbort]

Does this have the fixes integrated into the latest beta?

I took the plunge and upgraded about 24 hours ago. My backhaul is hardwired, and I have about 30 clients, including printers, IoT devices such as nest thermostat and doorbell, many sonos (using a boost) and amazon echo devices. So far, everything seems stable. The log has always been a mystery to me, and talks about disconnects and reconnects, but I'm not seeing any real world behavior that gives me concern. Speed tests at the router and at the clients is high (I have comcast at around 850 down) and it all checks out at the moment. I'll write back if anything goes off the rails during video/work tomorrow.