Fortiadc FirmwareOperating system · Fortinet
CVE-2020-9286
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 · uneditedAn improper authorization vulnerability in FortiADC may allow a remote authenticated user with low privileges to perform certain actions such as rebooting the system.
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 confidenceFortiADC contains an improper authorization vulnerability where a remote authenticated user with low privileges can perform elevated actions such as system reboot that should require higher privilege levels. This represents a privilege escalation flaw in the application's authorization logic.
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
Fortiadc FirmwareOperating system
<= 5.3.4CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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 installed FortiADC firmware versionAccess the FortiADC CLI or GUI and run the command 'get system status' or navigate to System > Firmware to view the current firmware versionAffected if The firmware version is 5.3.4 or any version lower than 5.3.4
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Identify low-privilege user accountsIn FortiADC GUI, go to System > Administrator > Administrators to list all admin accounts and their privilege profiles. In CLI, use 'get admin user' to view user configurationsAffected if There are administrator accounts assigned to low-privilege or limited profiles that should not have system-level permissions
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Verify authorization controls for elevated actionsReview the privilege profiles assigned to each administrator. Check which profiles have permission to execute system-level commands such as reboot, shutdown, or configuration changes. Use 'get system privilege' or inspect profile configurations under User > User Group > Admin ProfileAffected if Low-privilege profiles are incorrectly granted permissions to execute elevated system operations like reboot or system configuration changes
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Audit administrative logs for unauthorized elevated actionsIn FortiADC GUI, go to Log & Report > System Events or use CLI command 'execute log view' to search for reboot or system-level commands. Look for actions performed by accounts with low-privilege profilesAffected if Logs show system reboot, shutdown, or other elevated actions were performed by users with low-privilege profiles that should not have such permissions
You are affected if your FortiADC firmware is version 5.3.4 or lower AND low-privilege users can perform elevated actions like system reboot that should require higher privilege levels.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied patch from Fortinet for FortiADC. Until patched, limit network access to the management interface to trusted administrators only and monitor for unauthorized administrative actions.
Fix this in Fortiadc Firmware
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9286 — 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-2020-9286 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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