Another week, another set of reasons to keep your edge devices patched. The headline story is a live, unauthenticated exploit chain hitting internet-exposed RouterOS gear, T-Mobile rolled out AI-driven network healing nationwide, and the FCC opened up serious new satellite spectrum. Here is what mattered in cellular and satellite networking for the week of September 22 to 28, 2026.
The Big Three
1. CISA confirms active exploitation of MikroTik RouterOS (“MikroTrick”)
On September 25, CISA added CVE-2026-67279 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog after researchers at CERT Polska and Bishop Fox documented attackers chaining it with CVE-2026-86060 in an exploit dubbed “MikroTrick.” The flaw lets an unauthenticated client open a session channel and issue exec requests, and when chained it hands attackers full administrative control of internet-exposed RouterOS 7.x devices with no password required. If you manage any RouterOS-based gear at the network edge, this is a drop-everything patch, not a next-maintenance-window patch. It is also a good prompt to audit which of your deployed routers, regardless of brand, have a management interface reachable from the public internet at all. Full write-up: The Hacker News.
2. T-Mobile pushes AI-driven self-healing to its whole 5G footprint
On September 24, T-Mobile announced two AI capabilities now live nationwide: AutoPilot, an intent-based automation layer inside its Self-Organizing Network that reacts to a failed cell site roughly twice as fast as before, and Dynamic CX, which now runs everywhere to anticipate demand spikes ahead of major events. T-Mobile paired the announcement with resilience numbers from Winter Storm Fern, where the SON reportedly stretched backup power to deliver 250,000-plus additional minutes of connectivity across more than 30 states. For customers running T-Mobile as a primary or failover WAN in a Peplink, Cradlepoint, or Teltonika multi-WAN setup, faster self-healing on the carrier side should mean fewer, shorter blips upstream of your router. Source: T-Mobile Newsroom.
3. FCC opens the door to a lot more satellite spectrum
The Commission is moving on two fronts that matter for satellite-reliant deployments: an NPRM exploring over 200 MHz of unlicensed spectrum for direct-to-device satellite communication under Part 15 rules, and a separate proposal to unlock more than 1,000 MHz in the 12.7 GHz and 42 GHz bands, plus additional Ku, Ka, and D-band allocations, to expand satellite broadband capacity. Comments on the direct-to-device item are due November 9. Closer to home this week, regulatory fees for wireless and telecom licensees were due September 26, submarine cable comments closed September 25, and Universal Service Fund reform comments are due September 30. None of this changes anything in your rack today, but it is the pipeline that eventually turns into more Starlink-style capacity and new direct-to-cell offerings. Background: FCC.gov.
Firmware & Security Watch
The MikroTik chain above is the story of the week, but a few other items are worth tracking:
- Peplink firmware 8.6.1 is still sitting at Release Candidate 1 as of this week, following the 8.6.0 general release on September 2 and the 8.6.1 Beta 1 build on September 12. Peplink’s own forum shows engineering still working an EAP-TLS/WPA2-Enterprise authentication issue from the 8.6.0 cycle, where large (~1700 byte) client packets fragment and break auth for some enterprise Wi-Fi clients. If that is not your environment, there is no urgency to jump off 8.6.0 yet. If it is, open a support ticket and confirm before you upgrade a fleet. Check current builds on the Peplink support page.
- RouterCVE Report Card: we were not able to pull this week’s snapshot from routercve.com (the fetch was blocked at the network level on our end), so there is no grade or CVE-count diff to report for Peplink, Cradlepoint, Digi, Teltonika, Inseego, Semtech/Sierra Wireless, or Starlink this week. We will pick the diff back up next Monday.
- Reddit (r/Peplink, r/cradlepoint, r/Starlink, and friends) was not accessible to our research crawler this week, so we cannot confirm what social chatter looked like. If you saw something notable circulating there, the community threads on the vendor forums linked above are the next best source.
- No new CVEs or advisories surfaced this week specifically against Cradlepoint, Digi, Teltonika, Inseego, or Semtech/Sierra Wireless hardware in our research. Keep an eye on vendor security bulletins regardless; a quiet week is not the same as a clean bill of health.
Spectrum & Industry
Both Verizon and AT&T have now sunset their public customer community forums, which means less first-party visibility into carrier-side complaints than earlier this year; T-Mobile’s community forum remains active by comparison. On the enterprise side, Ericsson continues integrating Cradlepoint under its Enterprise Wireless Solutions banner, and that product line keeps shipping new hardware like the W2255 adapter for enterprise 5G WAN. If you are speccing a new deployment across Peplink, Cradlepoint, Digi, or Teltonika gear and want a second opinion on which fits your carrier mix, that is exactly the kind of question our team fields daily.
5Gstore Take
The throughline this week is patch discipline. The MikroTik KEV entry is a reminder that “internet-facing management interface plus known CVE plus no rush to patch” is exactly how routers end up owned, whatever brand is on the case. Whether you are running Peplink, Cradlepoint, Digi, Teltonika, Inseego, Semtech and Sierra Wireless modules, or our own Katalyst-branded gear, the same rule applies: know your firmware version, subscribe to the vendor’s release notes, and do not let “it’s working fine” turn into “it’s been unpatched for six months.” On the carrier side, T-Mobile’s AI-driven self-healing and the FCC’s satellite spectrum push both point the same direction: more automated resilience baked into the network, and more capacity coming for satellite-cellular bonded setups down the road.
If you want help auditing your fleet’s firmware versions, picking the right router for a Starlink-plus-cellular bonded setup, or just have questions about anything in this roundup, get in touch with our team and we will help you sort it out.
Vendor resources mentioned above: Peplink, Cradlepoint, Digi, Teltonika, Inseego, Semtech/Sierra Wireless, and Katalyst.
FAQ
What is the MikroTik RouterOS vulnerability everyone is patching this week?
CVE-2026-67279 lets an unauthenticated attacker open a session on RouterOS 7.x and issue commands; chained with CVE-2026-86060 in the “MikroTrick” exploit, it gives full unauthenticated admin access to internet-exposed devices. CISA added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on September 25, 2026.
Should I move to Peplink firmware 8.6.1 right now?
It is still at Release Candidate 1, so treat it as a test-lab build, not a fleet-wide rollout. Stay on 8.6.0 GA unless you are specifically chasing an 8.6.1 fix, and open a support ticket first if you are hitting the EAP-TLS/WPA2-Enterprise authentication issue.
Where can I get help reviewing my router fleet’s firmware and security posture?
Contact the 5Gstore team and we can help you check firmware versions across Peplink, Cradlepoint, Digi, Teltonika, Inseego, Semtech/Sierra Wireless, and Katalyst deployments.
About the Author
Michael Ginsberg is the founder of 5Gstore.com, a trusted source for cellular routers and failover networking solutions since 2005. With a background in software and networking dating back to 1988, he writes about cellular connectivity, IoT infrastructure, network security, and fleet management. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn or reach the 5Gstore team through our contact page.
