Summary
A critical path traversal vulnerability in Fortinet FortiSIEM 7.5.0 may allow an attacker to access or influence files outside an intended restricted directory through specially crafted network packets. Under conditions where vulnerable packet-handling code processes attacker-controlled path data, the issue could enable unauthorized code or command execution.
A critical path traversal vulnerability in Fortinet FortiSIEM 7.5.0 may allow an attacker to access or influence files outside an intended restricted directory through specially crafted network packets. Under conditions where vulnerable packet-handling code processes attacker-controlled path data, the issue could enable unauthorized code or command execution.
Affected context
The vulnerability occurs in FortiSIEM 7.5.0 when network-facing packet-processing functionality handles attacker-controlled pathname data without sufficiently restricting it to an intended directory. Exploitation depends on access to the relevant FortiSIEM service and on the vulnerable processing path being reachable in the deployment.
The vulnerability occurs in FortiSIEM 7.5.0 when network-facing packet-processing functionality handles attacker-controlled pathname data without sufficiently restricting it to an intended directory. Exploitation depends on access to the relevant FortiSIEM service and on the vulnerable processing path being reachable in the deployment.
Exploit preconditions
- Attack surface: Network-accessible FortiSIEM packet-processing functionality
- Required access: Ability to send specially crafted packets to the relevant service; authentication requirements may depend on deployment exposure and controls
- Trigger point: Processing of pathname-related input by vulnerable server-side code
- Why exploitation is possible: Insufficient canonicalization and boundary enforcement may allow a supplied path to resolve outside its intended restricted directory, potentially reaching sensitive files or execution-related functionality
- Attack surface: Network-accessible FortiSIEM packet-processing functionality
- Required access: Ability to send specially crafted packets to the relevant service; authentication requirements may depend on deployment exposure and controls
- Trigger point: Processing of pathname-related input by vulnerable server-side code
- Why exploitation is possible: Insufficient canonicalization and boundary enforcement may allow a supplied path to resolve outside its intended restricted directory, potentially reaching sensitive files or execution-related functionality
Why this happens
The underlying bug is improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory, which maps to CWE-22: Path Traversal. The vulnerable behavior occurs when application-controlled path construction or resolution treats externally influenced path components as trustworthy without reliably canonicalizing the result and verifying that it remains within the permitted directory. If the affected path reaches privileged file or command-handling operations, traversal may increase the impact from unauthorized file access to code or command execution.
The underlying bug is improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory, which maps to CWE-22: Path Traversal. The vulnerable behavior occurs when application-controlled path construction or resolution treats externally influenced path components as trustworthy without reliably canonicalizing the result and verifying that it remains within the permitted directory. If the affected path reaches privileged file or command-handling operations, traversal may increase the impact from unauthorized file access to code or command execution.
Potential impact
- An attacker may execute unauthorized commands or code in the FortiSIEM server context
- Sensitive files or configuration data could be disclosed
- Application integrity could be altered through unauthorized file access
- The FortiSIEM instance could be compromised
- Attackers could use the compromised system for further lateral movement
- An attacker may execute unauthorized commands or code in the FortiSIEM server context
- Sensitive files or configuration data could be disclosed
- Application integrity could be altered through unauthorized file access
- The FortiSIEM instance could be compromised
- Attackers could use the compromised system for further lateral movement
General mitigation guidance
Mitigation generally focuses on enforcing path boundaries at every filesystem access and reducing the trust placed in network-supplied path data.
Common defensive patterns include:
- Canonicalizing paths before authorization checks
- Verifying that resolved paths remain beneath an approved base directory
- Preferencing identifier-based resource lookup over accepting raw filesystem paths
- Rejecting ambiguous, encoded, absolute, or unexpected path forms
- Running services with least-privilege filesystem and process permissions
- Separating file-handling capabilities from command-execution capabilities
- Applying network segmentation and limiting exposure of administrative services
Mitigation generally focuses on enforcing path boundaries at every filesystem access and reducing the trust placed in network-supplied path data.
Common defensive patterns include:
- Canonicalizing paths before authorization checks
- Verifying that resolved paths remain beneath an approved base directory
- Preferencing identifier-based resource lookup over accepting raw filesystem paths
- Rejecting ambiguous, encoded, absolute, or unexpected path forms
- Running services with least-privilege filesystem and process permissions
- Separating file-handling capabilities from command-execution capabilities
- Applying network segmentation and limiting exposure of administrative services
How teams detect issues like this
Organizations can look for path traversal risks through:
- Static analysis rules for externally influenced path construction and filesystem APIs
- Code review checks for canonicalization performed after, rather than before, authorization
- Tests using normalized, encoded, absolute, and mixed-separator path variants
- Runtime monitoring for unusual file access, process creation, or command execution by the FortiSIEM service
- Network and policy controls that restrict access to exposed management and processing interfaces
- Automated security review tools that identify missing path-boundary validation
Organizations can look for path traversal risks through:
- Static analysis rules for externally influenced path construction and filesystem APIs
- Code review checks for canonicalization performed after, rather than before, authorization
- Tests using normalized, encoded, absolute, and mixed-separator path variants
- Runtime monitoring for unusual file access, process creation, or command execution by the FortiSIEM service
- Network and policy controls that restrict access to exposed management and processing interfaces
- Automated security review tools that identify missing path-boundary validation
Sources
| Source | Link |
|---|---|
| fortiguard. | fortiguard.fortinet.com/ |
| github. | github.com/ |
