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As far as I know, they typically won't do this to avoid responsibility for bricking safety- and mission-critical routers.

um, few-if-any of the devices on this list are approved for safety- and mission-critical uses.

That would be illegal hacking on the part of the FBI. Do you really want the federal government installing software on your devices?

The FBI can get a court order authorizing the necessary activities.

I would hope and expect that, at least, they would need a separate court order for every modem.

Also, chances are courts would deny them such orders on the grounds that it would be easier for about everyone involved if the FBI just asked the router’s owner to restore its firmware (why would the FBI need a court order against foo because bar hacked its modem?)

In one case they asked a judge for permission to do just that, but as you cam imagine taking on that responsibility isn't something to do lightly.