Asus apologized to users after many of their router models experienced connection issues, freezing, and rebooting every few minutes. The failure occurred as a result of scheduled security maintenance and was caused by a server-side error.
Reports of problems in the operation of Asus routers began to come from users as early as May 16, 2023. The failures were reported on social networks and forums, with people wondering why they had connection problems at the same time on different models of Asus routers, and many complained about the lack of any response from the manufacturer.
After more than two days, Asus representatives finally responded to the issue by issuing a security bulletin, which explained that the failures were caused by an error in the server settings file configuration.
“During scheduled security maintenance, our technical team discovered a configuration error in the server settings file that could potentially lead to network connection interruption on part of the routers,” company representatives stated.
Although the Asus statement did not specify what the error was or exactly how it affected remote routers, Reddit users speculated that the crash was caused by a corrupted ASD (ASUS AiProtection) file.
ASD is a built-in security daemon supplied by Trend Micro. It is used in a wide range of router models for real-time threat protection and is updated regardless of whether the user has automatic firmware updates enabled on the device or not.
“A firmware update almost universally fixes this problem, but simply resetting the router to factory defaults also helps if you clear the NVRAM. In fact, any method that removes the problematic file (/jffs/asd/chknvram20230516) will return the router to normal,” Reddit users said.
According to users, a corrupted file for ASD was automatically sent to all affected routers, resulting in a lack of file system space and memory, eventually causing a crash.
Asus stated that the issue has now been resolved and all affected routers should now be back to normal. It is noted that in some cases, users may need to manually restart their devices in order to permanently fix connection problems. If this does not help, users will have to reset the device to factory settings and re-download the configuration file, following the manufacturer’s step-by-step instructions.
