Although Apple discontinued its line of AirPort base stations (routers), it recently released a firmware update, version 7.9.1. It fixes several security issues, one of which seems especially bad.
Impact: A base station factory reset may not delete all user information
Description: The issue was addressed with improved data deletion.
CVE-2019-8575: joshua stein
Check It Out: AirPort Base Stations Get 7.9.1 Firmware Update
For those wanting to apply this Airport update, launch the Airport Utility on your Mac. Once open, click on Airport router and it should display an informational popover window and display and “Update” button to the right of the current firmware version. Just click on the button and wait for it to download, apply and restart the Airport.
Notice that neither this MO post, the linked post or Apple’s Security post mentions how to obtain and apply the update.
Oddly enough we just retired our AirPort Base Station. What can I say we got a good deal from our provider that included a brand new WAP, and Pods to make a grid system. I’ve been using AirPorts since they were first introduced, but eventually it’s time to move on.
But in fairness it was like seven years old.
I have an old one. Still works like a champ and haven’t really found a reason to move to something better just yet. Was even thinking of picking up another for my detached garage so my property can have total coverage.