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FortimailApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2022-29056

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.0.10 / 6.2.5 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
A improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts vulnerability [CWE-307] in Fortinet FortiMail version 6.4.0, version 6.2.0 through 6.2.4 and before 6.0.9 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to partially exhaust CPU and memory via sending numerous HTTP requests to the login form.

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 confidence

FortiMail login form lacks proper rate limiting or account lockout mechanisms, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to send numerous HTTP requests that partially exhaust CPU and memory resources, causing denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor patches for FortiMail versions 6.0.9, 6.2.5, 6.4.1 or later. Consider implementing upstream rate limiting or WAF rules for the login endpoint as additional mitigation.

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
FortimailApplication
Affected:>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.10>= 6.2.1, < 6.2.5= 6.4.0

CVSS 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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify FortiMail version via CLI
    Connect to FortiMail CLI and run: `get system status` or `fortimail -v` to retrieve the installed firmware version.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within these ranges: 6.0.0 through 6.0.9, 6.2.1 through 6.2.4, or exactly 6.4.0. Any version in these ranges is vulnerable.
  2. Verify login interface is exposed
    Confirm the FortiMail web login page is reachable over HTTP/HTTPS from the network segment being assessed. Access the URL `https://<fortimail-ip>/mail/` or check the listening ports on the FortiMail device using `diagnose system interface list` or `show system interface` to identify exposed management or web mail ports.
    Affected if The login form is accessible via network. The vulnerability applies to any deployment where the login form is network-accessible, regardless of whether it is exposed to the internet or internal networks.
  3. Check for existing rate limiting configuration
    In FortiMail CLI, examine rate limit or account lockout settings: `get system global` or search for related settings under `config system global`. Look for parameters like `max-login-attempts` or rate-limiting configurations.
    Affected if Rate limiting is not configured or is set to an excessively high value/none. The vulnerability exists specifically because these protections are missing or inadequate in affected versions.

A defender is affected if their FortiMail version is 6.0.0-6.0.9, 6.2.1-6.2.4, or exactly 6.4.0 AND the login interface is network-accessible.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.0.10 / 6.2.5 or later
Fixed in 6.0.106.2.5
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches for FortiMail versions 6.0.9, 6.2.5, 6.4.1 or later. Consider implementing upstream rate limiting or WAF rules for the login endpoint as additional mitigation.

Recommended fix High confidence

FortiMail 6.0.10, 6.2.5, or 6.4.1 and later

  1. Identify your current FortiMail version from the web UI (System > Dashboard > Status) or CLI: 'get system status'
  2. Backup your FortiMail configuration using: 'execute backup config tftp <config-file> <tftp-server-ip>'
  3. For FortiMail 6.0.x: Upgrade to version 6.0.10 or later
  4. For FortiMail 6.2.x: Upgrade to version 6.2.5 or later
  5. For FortiMail 6.4.0: Upgrade to version 6.4.1 or later
  6. After upgrade, verify the new version: 'get system status'
  7. Consider implementing rate limiting on the management interface as an additional defense-in-depth measure
Caveat Review Fortinet release notes for your target version to check for configuration or feature changes between your current and target version; some upgrades may require intermediate steps

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Fortimail Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-29056 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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