6.33.5 password resetting on its own

We have an x86 install, running 6.33.5. Shortly after we updated, it began to exhibit a bizarre password behavior: periodically, the password resets to “” (blank). We can change it back, and the new password works for a while - but eventually resets back to blank!

We’ve tried:

  • Changing to a new password, in case the old one had leaked and someone was messing with us.
  • Disabling API access (we were using it for some internal tools, which started failing due to the password change - how we noticed this problem)
  • Disabling SSH, telnet, HTTP access in case that was being used (and because having a blank password is suicidal). These are all on non-default ports, which gets rid of most bot traffic.

The box itself is running about 500 simple queues (RADIUS assigned via DHCP), a traffic shaping queue tree, and PPPoE for about 30 clients. Other than the password issue, the router is functioning really well - no complaints/problems there.

We haven’t managed to nail down exactly when this is happening. Sometimes, it is quick - sometimes it is not.

Our most recent shot in the dark is to go around making sure that everyone has updated to Winbox 3.1 (we had a few older winbox versions floating around). It’s hard to tell, but that may have helped; the password hasn’t changed in the last hour since we did that. If it did help, that’s a pretty serious bug - if an old winbox is dangerous, don’t let it login!

Update: Shortly after I posted this, the password reset to blank again.

Just to update, we tried to run a backup and received a pretty non-specific error. Running /export gave a file operation error. The disks and system resources screen shows a lot of free space on there, so I’m wondering if this could be related to a problem with the SSD on which this is installed?

I had a similar problem when running an x86 routerboard a couple of years ago. The HD the OS was installed to started to fail. It would loose its password and we could not write any files to the disc. A reboot would fix it for a bit, but the problem would always come back. The drive failed not too long after that. I would recomend swapping out that drive ASAP, to get back up and running, and not waiting for it to fail. If you need the license to transfer, contact support@mikrotik.com and explain the situation.