FortiwlcApplication · Fortinet
CVE-2020-9288
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 neutralization of input vulnerability in FortiWLC 8.5.1 allows a remote authenticated attacker to perform a stored cross site scripting attack (XSS) via the ESS profile or the Radius Profile.
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 · high confidenceStored cross-site scripting vulnerability in FortiWLC 8.5.1 where the ESS profile and Radius Profile web interface fields fail to properly sanitize user-supplied input, allowing an authenticated attacker to inject malicious JavaScript that persists and executes when other users view the affected profiles.
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
FortiwlcApplication
<= 8.5.1CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Verify FortiWLC versionAccess the web management interface and navigate to System > General or use CLI command 'show system info' to confirm the installed version numberAffected if Version is 8.5.1 or lower (<= 8.5.1)
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Confirm web interface accessibilityDetermine if the FortiWLC web management interface (HTTPS port 443 or configured port) is reachable from network locations where untrusted users operateAffected if Web interface is exposed to users beyond trusted administrators
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Review administrative user accountsCheck the list of configured administrative users in the system through the web UI (Manage > Administrators or CLI equivalent) to identify any untrusted or unauthorized accountsAffected if There are administrative accounts with access granted to untrusted users
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Inspect ESS profile configurationsNavigate to Wireless > ESS Profiles in the web interface and examine each profile's configuration fields for any unexpected characters, scripts, or markup that appear injectedAffected if Any ESS profile contains unsanitized user-supplied content, especially script tags or event handlers
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Inspect RADIUS profile configurationsNavigate to Security > RADIUS Profiles or equivalent section and examine profile fields for any suspicious injected contentAffected if Any RADIUS profile contains unsanitized user-supplied content, especially script tags or event handlers
Environment is affected if FortiWLC version is 8.5.1 or lower AND the web interface is accessible to authenticated users who can modify ESS or RADIUS profiles.
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 vendor patch when available; in the interim, restrict administrative access to trusted users only and implement content security policy headers to mitigate XSS execution.
Fix this in Fortiwlc
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $3,392.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9288 — 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-2020-9288 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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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