Exploiting those vulnerabilities via pure network traffic is borderline impossible. Most CPU exploits (meltdown et al.) require execution on the device, you can’t do it via crafted network packets.
I can’t think of any typical services that you’d run on a router/home server that allow arbitrary code execution. The main risk was mostly web browsers with JavaScript, or VPS providers.
Either way, definitely unlikely for a home router.
I hear you, I host lots of stuff. But none I can think of would be RCE vulnerable directly from a CPU vulnerability. You could use a CPU vulnerability to privesc later, but once someone has RCE, your already pwn’d, and privesc is mostly a given anyway either way. So CPU vulnerabilities falls way down the list of things to worry about.
As long as you keep your router OS patched and up to date, CPU vulns really arent a concern.
Probably, but raspi only has one interface, and USB network cards can be flakey. You’ll also not get outstandingly fast speeds, so ifnyour on a fast fibre connection you’ll struggle to hit the full speed.
In that regard you should buy a mini PC that has 2 network ports. You get the simplest out of the box hardware, modern and power friendly, and just run the LAN to a switch.
Note: I didn’t do this. I use an old PC with a NIC added for 4 ports. Gives me everything I need (and Intel NICs are better supported than Realtek ones). The “power hungry” isn’t really an issue. It is wasteful and inneficient technically speaking, but its not large dollars annually. It would take years to add up to the cost of buying a new machine.
I have a smart home setup. I originally used a Pi. Unfortunately, it started to become unreliable after about 12-18 months. Apparently it quite a common issue with long term Pi systems.
I eventually changed to a small NUC. A bit less power efficient, but it’s been bomb proof for a few years now.
Its a bad idea from a power consumption POV, your old PC will be very inefficient, and running it 24/7 as a router will rapidly add up.
Security wise, you’ll be running a fairly up to date Linux or BSD based OS, so its perfectly safe.
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Exploiting those vulnerabilities via pure network traffic is borderline impossible. Most CPU exploits (meltdown et al.) require execution on the device, you can’t do it via crafted network packets.
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I can’t think of any typical services that you’d run on a router/home server that allow arbitrary code execution. The main risk was mostly web browsers with JavaScript, or VPS providers.
Either way, definitely unlikely for a home router.
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I hear you, I host lots of stuff. But none I can think of would be RCE vulnerable directly from a CPU vulnerability. You could use a CPU vulnerability to privesc later, but once someone has RCE, your already pwn’d, and privesc is mostly a given anyway either way. So CPU vulnerabilities falls way down the list of things to worry about.
As long as you keep your router OS patched and up to date, CPU vulns really arent a concern.
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Probably, but raspi only has one interface, and USB network cards can be flakey. You’ll also not get outstandingly fast speeds, so ifnyour on a fast fibre connection you’ll struggle to hit the full speed.
https://cameroncros.github.io/wifi-condom.html
This is my travel router setup, might be useful for you to start from.
In that regard you should buy a mini PC that has 2 network ports. You get the simplest out of the box hardware, modern and power friendly, and just run the LAN to a switch.
Note: I didn’t do this. I use an old PC with a NIC added for 4 ports. Gives me everything I need (and Intel NICs are better supported than Realtek ones). The “power hungry” isn’t really an issue. It is wasteful and inneficient technically speaking, but its not large dollars annually. It would take years to add up to the cost of buying a new machine.
I have a smart home setup. I originally used a Pi. Unfortunately, it started to become unreliable after about 12-18 months. Apparently it quite a common issue with long term Pi systems.
I eventually changed to a small NUC. A bit less power efficient, but it’s been bomb proof for a few years now.