Fortinet FortiOS and FortiProxy Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

[ Why it matters ]Priority signals

• Exploited in the wild: on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list since 2025-01-14
• Known to be used in ransomware campaigns
• EPSS: 94% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (higher than 100% of CVEs)
• Critical severity: CVSS 9.8

[ Description ]Official description

An Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability [CWE-288] affecting FortiOS version 7.0.0 through 7.0.16 and FortiProxy version 7.0.0 through 7.0.19 and 7.2.0 through 7.2.12 allows a remote attacker to gain super-admin privileges via crafted requests to Node.js websocket module.

CISA: Fortinet FortiOS and FortiProxy contain an authentication bypass vulnerability that may allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain super-admin privileges via crafted requests to Node.js websocket module.

[ Fixes ]Fixes and patches

CISA required action (US federal deadline 21 Jan 2025): Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

No fix or interim patch is linked from our sources yet. Check the vendor references below and limit exposure of affected systems until a fix is available.

[ References ]References

• fortiguard.fortinet.com/psirt/FG-IR-24-535MitigationVendor Advisory
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalogUS Government Resource