FortiosOperating system · Fortinet
CVE-2022-23438
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 during web page generation ('Cross-site Scripting') [CWE-79] vulnerability in FortiOS version 7.0.5 and prior and 6.4.9 and prior may allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to perform a reflected cross site scripting (XSS) attack in the captive portal authentication replacement page.
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 confidenceA reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in FortiOS versions 7.0.5 and prior and 6.4.9 and prior allows unauthenticated remote attackers to inject malicious scripts into the captive portal authentication replacement page through unsanitized user input.
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
FortiosOperating system
<= 6.4.9>= 7.0.0, <= 7.0.5CVSS 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:3.1/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.
-
Check the FortiOS version installedRun the CLI command 'get system status' or view the version displayed in the FortiGate web interface under Dashboard > StatusAffected if The version displayed is 7.0.5 or lower for the 7.x branch, or 6.4.9 or lower for the 6.4.x branch
-
Verify if captive portal is configuredIn the FortiGate web interface, navigate to User & Authentication > Captive Portals, or run CLI command 'show user captive-portal' to see if any captive portal entries existAffected if Any captive portal configuration exists on the FortiGate device
-
Confirm captive portal is enabled on an interfaceRun CLI command 'show system interface' or check the interface settings in the web interface to see if ' captive-portal' is applied to any interfaceAffected if Captive portal enforcement is enabled on one or more network interfaces
A FortiGate is affected if it runs FortiOS version 7.0.5 or below (7.x branch) or 6.4.9 or below (6.4.x branch) AND has captive portal configured and enabled on at least one interface, exposing the authentication replacement page to unauthenticated users.
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 FortiOS to version 7.0.6 or later for 7.x branches, or 6.4.10 or later for 6.4.x branches to incorporate the patch for this XSS vulnerability.
Fix this in Fortios
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-23438 — 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-2022-23438 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data