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FortimailApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2022-39945

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
An improper access control vulnerability [CWE-284] in FortiMail 7.2.0, 7.0.0 through 7.0.3, 6.4 all versions, 6.2 all versions, 6.0 all versions may allow an authenticated admin user assigned to a specific domain to access and modify other domains information via insecure direct object references (IDOR).

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 contains an IDOR vulnerability where an authenticated admin user assigned to one domain can access and modify another domain's mail configuration, user accounts, or policies by manipulating object references in API requests or web interface parameters. This is a horizontal privilege escalation due to missing domain-boundary validation in access control logic.

MitigationApply Fortinet's patch for the affected FortiMail versions (7.2.0, 7.0.0-7.0.3, 6.4.x, 6.2.x, 6.0.x). Until patched, audit admin domain assignments and monitor for unauthorized cross-domain access attempts.

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, <= 6.0.12>= 6.2.0, <= 6.2.9>= 6.4.0, <= 6.4.7>= 7.0.0, <= 7.0.3= 7.2.0

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

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

  1. Identify FortiMail version
    Log into the FortiMail CLI or web UI and locate the firmware version under System > Dashboard > Status or use CLI command 'get system status'
    Affected if The installed version falls within 6.0.0-6.0.12, 6.2.0-6.2.9, 6.4.0-6.4.7, 7.0.0-7.0.3, or 7.2.0
  2. Confirm multi-domain configuration
    Navigate to Domain & User > Domain > Domain in the web UI or use CLI 'fortimail domain list' to enumerate configured domains
    Affected if Multiple domains are configured and the system uses domain-based isolation
  3. Review admin domain assignments
    Navigate to System > Administrator > Administrator in the web UI or use CLI 'fortimail admin list' to list all admin accounts and their assigned domains
    Affected if Any admin account is assigned to a domain other than 'All' but may need broader access, indicating potential for cross-domain manipulation
  4. Audit API request logs for cross-domain access
    Review FortiMail logs under Log & Report > Event Log, filtering for API-related admin actions. Look for operations where 'domain' or 'recipient_domain' parameters reference a domain different from the admin's assigned domain
    Affected if Logs show API operations accessing or modifying objects in domains the admin was not assigned to
  5. Inspect access control enforcement on configuration objects
    Attempt to access or modify a test object in a different domain using an API call or web parameter while logged in as a domain-restricted admin, or review the API handler code if accessible
    Affected if Requests with manipulated domain parameters in object references succeed when they should be rejected by domain-boundary validation

You are affected if FortiMail version is one of the listed vulnerable versions AND multiple domains are configured AND domain-restricted admins exist, as the IDOR allows cross-domain access to mail configuration, user accounts, or policies.

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 a release after 7.0.3
Interim mitigation

Apply Fortinet's patch for the affected FortiMail versions (7.2.0, 7.0.0-7.0.3, 6.4.x, 6.2.x, 6.0.x). Until patched, audit admin domain assignments and monitor for unauthorized cross-domain access attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

FortiMail 6.0.13, 6.2.10, 6.4.8, 7.0.4, or 7.2.1 (depending on your version branch)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed FortiMail version using the web UI (System > Status) or CLI: 'get system status'
  2. 2. Based on the installed version line, plan upgrade to the minimum fixed version: For 6.0.x upgrade to 6.0.13 or later; For 6.2.x upgrade to 6.2.10 or later; For 6.4.x upgrade to 6.4.8 or later; For 7.0.x upgrade to 7.0.4 or later; For 7.2.x upgrade to 7.2.1 or later
  3. 3. Before upgrading, backup the FortiMail configuration via the web UI (System > Configuration > Backup) or CLI: 'execute backup config tftp <config_name> <tftp_server>'
  4. 4. Review FortiMail upgrade documentation and release notes for any pre-upgrade requirements
  5. 5. Perform the firmware upgrade via web UI (System > Firmware) or CLI: 'execute firmware upgrade <image_file>'
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed: 'get system status'
  7. 7. Confirm the vulnerability is fixed by checking that domain admin users can no longer access other domain resources without proper authorization
Caveat Review release notes before upgrading; major version upgrades (e.g., 6.x to 7.x) may require configuration adjustments and have different GUI/CLI behaviors

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

Fix this in Fortimail Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,400
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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-2022-39945 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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