Fortianalyzer FirmwareOperating system · Fortinet
CVE-2017-17541
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Fortinet FortiManager 6.0.0, 5.6.4 and below versions, FortiAnalyzer 6.0.0, 5.6.4 and below versions allows inject Javascript code and HTML tags through the CN value of CA and CRL certificates via the import CA and CRL certificates feature.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceStored Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript and HTML through the Common Name (CN) field of CA and CRL certificates when importing them via the import CA/CRL certificates feature. The injected payload executes when other users view the certificate data in the management interface.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Fortianalyzer FirmwareOperating system
<= 5.6.4= 6.0.0
Fortimanager FirmwareOperating system
<= 5.6.4= 6.0.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check firmware versionRun 'get system status' in FortiManager/FortiAnalyzer CLI or view the dashboard in the GUI to confirm the installed firmware versionAffected if The installed version is 5.6.4 or earlier, or exactly 6.0.0 (unpatched versions)
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Identify imported CA/CRL certificatesNavigate to System Settings > Certificates (or use ' diagnose vpn certificate list' CLI command) to view all imported CA and CRL certificatesAffected if Any CA or CRL certificates have been imported into the system
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Inspect certificate Common Name fieldsExamine the CN (Common Name) field of each imported certificate. Look for unusual characters such as < > script or javascript tags, or base64-encoded strings that may indicate XSS payloadsAffected if Any certificate CN field contains HTML tags, JavaScript code, or suspicious encoded content
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Review certificate import feature accessCheck administrator profiles and permissions to determine which users have access to the import CA/CRL certificate feature under System Settings > Certificates > ImportAffected if Users other than trusted administrators have access to import certificates
You are affected if your FortiManager or FortiAnalyzer runs firmware 5.6.4 or earlier (or exactly 6.0.0) AND any CA/CRL certificates with malicious CN payloads have been imported, causing stored XSS when other users view those certificates.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to FortiManager/FortiAnalyzer version 6.0.1, 5.6.5 or later to obtain the vendor patch. Until patched, restrict the import CA/CRL certificate feature to trusted administrators only and validate/sanitize certificate CN fields before storage and before display output.
Fix this in Fortianalyzer Firmware
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17541 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-17541 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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