CVE-2024-45331 in FortiAnalyzer
Summary
by MITRE • 01/16/2025
A incorrect privilege assignment in Fortinet FortiAnalyzer versions 7.4.0 through 7.4.3, 7.2.0 through 7.2.5, 7.0.0 through 7.0.13, 6.4.0 through 6.4.15, FortiManager versions 7.4.0 through 7.4.2, 7.2.0 through 7.2.5, 7.0.0 through 7.0.13, 6.4.0 through 6.4.15, FortiAnalyzer Cloud versions 7.4.1 through 7.4.2, 7.2.1 through 7.2.6, 7.0.1 through 7.0.13, 6.4.1 through 6.4.7 allows attacker to escalate privilege via specific shell commands
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/10/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical privilege escalation flaw in Fortinet's network security management platforms including FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, and their cloud variants. The issue stems from improper privilege assignment mechanisms that allow authenticated attackers to execute specific shell commands with elevated privileges. The vulnerability affects multiple product versions across different major releases, indicating a widespread configuration issue that spans from version 6.4.0 through 7.4.3, making it particularly concerning for organizations maintaining legacy deployments. This flaw directly violates the principle of least privilege and represents a fundamental breakdown in the access control mechanisms that should protect administrative functions within these security appliances.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows attackers to exploit command execution pathways that should be restricted to privileged users only. When an authenticated user submits specific shell commands through the management interface, the system fails to properly validate the user's privilege level before executing these operations. This misconfiguration enables attackers to bypass normal access controls and gain administrative privileges within the system. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple command execution as it provides a pathway for attackers to escalate their privileges from standard user accounts to full administrative access, potentially compromising the entire network security infrastructure. This type of flaw aligns with CWE-276 which addresses improper privilege management and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1068 for privilege escalation through local commands.
Organizations utilizing affected Fortinet products face significant operational risks including complete system compromise, unauthorized network access, and potential data breaches. The vulnerability's presence in both on-premises and cloud deployments creates a broad attack surface that security teams must address immediately. Attackers can leverage this flaw to establish persistent access, modify security policies, disable logging mechanisms, and potentially exfiltrate sensitive network information. The impact is particularly severe given that these appliances typically serve as central management points for network security policies, making them attractive targets for attackers seeking to gain control over entire network infrastructures. The widespread version affected range suggests that many organizations may be unknowingly running vulnerable systems that could be exploited by adversaries with minimal technical expertise.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patch application from Fortinet's official security advisories, as this represents a critical vulnerability requiring urgent attention. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit access to these management systems, enforce strict access controls, and monitor for unauthorized command executions. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of their Fortinet deployments to identify all affected versions and ensure proper privilege separation. Additional defensive measures include implementing strict firewall rules limiting access to management interfaces, enabling multi-factor authentication, and establishing robust monitoring for suspicious command execution patterns. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar privilege escalation issues within the broader network infrastructure, as this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining proper access control mechanisms across all security appliances.