EA8300 showing firmware update to 1.1.6.216940 — this version doesn’t exist in any official Linksys records. Legit or compromised?

My EA8300 v1 has been running 1.1.6.209797 (released Feb 28, 2022) which as far as I can tell is the last official firmware Linksys ever released for this model, per the GPL Code Center and the official release notes.

Today (9/13/2026) the router's Connectivity > Router Firmware Update section is showing a new available update: 1.1.6.216940. I can't find this version anywhere. It's not on downloads.linksys.com, not in the release notes, not in the GPL Code Center listing.

I asked Linksys's support site chatbot about it. It first gave me a download link for 1.1.6.209797 and called it "the final firmware release for the EA8300." When I told it that's the version I already have, and pointed out my router is showing 1.1.6.216940, it said that version "doesn't appear in our official firmware records" but it might be a "regional or staged rollout."

Given that the EA8300 is EOL and that the FBI put out a warning in 2025 about old, unsupported Linksys routers being hijacked into botnets/proxy networks via persistent malware, I'm wondering if this "update" notification is legitimate or a sign something's already compromised on the router (e.g., a hijacked update-check endpoint, DNS tampering, etc.).

On top of that – I can't find any actual way to reach Linksys support. There's a phone number, but I'm sure that's just their AI chatbot, now on the phone instead. There's no support email address and no "submit a ticket" option that I can find anywhere.

Questions:

1. Has anyone else seen 1.1.6.216940 for the EA8300? Any official source for it?
2. Could a compromised router fake/spoof the "update available" notification in the admin UI, or does that check always hit a legitimate Linksys endpoint?
3. Any recommended way to verify whether the router itself has been tampered with (beyond checking DNS settings, remote management, and connected devices)?
4. Does anyone know an actual way to reach Linksys support that isn't an AI chatbot?

Not flashing anything until I know more. Appreciate any insight.

For reference, the status page shows: