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Fortiap UApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2023-36634

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.2.5 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 incomplete filtering of one or more instances of special elements vulnerability [CWE-792] in the command line interpreter of FortiAP-U 7.0.0, 6.2.0 through 6.2.5, 6.0 all versions, 5.4 all versions may allow an authenticated attacker to list and delete arbitrary files and directory via specially crafted command arguments.

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

Incomplete filtering in the command line interpreter of FortiAP-U allows authenticated attackers to inject special elements via crafted command arguments, enabling arbitrary file and directory listing and deletion. The vulnerability exists in versions 7.0.0, 6.2.0-6.2.5, 6.0, and 5.4.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware patches when available. Until then, limit CLI access to only trusted administrative users and segment FortiAP management interfaces from untrusted networks.

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
Fortiap UApplication
Affected:>= 5.4.0, <= 5.4.6>= 6.0.0, <= 6.0.4>= 6.2.0, <= 6.2.5= 7.0.0

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

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

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

  1. Identify the device model
    Access the FortiAP management interface or console and run 'get system status' or 'fortiap -c get system status' to confirm the device is FortiAP-U model
    Affected if The device is not a FortiAP-U model (other FortiAP models are not affected by this specific CVE)
  2. Check the firmware version
    Run 'get system status' or check FortiAP management GUI under System > FortiAP page to identify the installed firmware version
    Affected if The version falls within these ranges: 5.4.0-5.4.6, 6.0.0-6.0.4, 6.2.0-6.2.5, or 7.0.0 (exact match)
  3. Verify CLI access method is enabled
    Check the FortiAP configuration for CLI access settings. In FortiGate managing the FortiAP, go to WiFi Controller > FortiAP Manager > Edit FortiAP > CLI Access (SSH/Telnet/Serial)
    Affected if CLI access via SSH or Telnet is enabled and reachable from an attacker-controlled network segment
  4. Assess network accessibility of CLI service
    Review firewall policies and network segmentation to determine if the FortiAP CLI interface (SSH port 22 or Telnet port 23) is exposed to untrusted networks or directly accessible from less-trusted VLANs
    Affected if The CLI service is accessible from networks outside the trusted administrative segment

You are affected if you have a FortiAP-U device running firmware version 5.4.0-5.4.6, 6.0.0-6.0.4, 6.2.0-6.2.5, or 7.0.0, and the CLI interface is accessible to untrusted users.

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 6.2.5
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied firmware patches when available. Until then, limit CLI access to only trusted administrative users and segment FortiAP management interfaces from untrusted networks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

FortiAP-U 7.0.1 or later (or latest available 7.x release); for 6.2.x upgrade to 6.2.6 or later; for 6.0.x upgrade to 6.0.5 or later; for 5.4.x upgrade to 5.4.7 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current FortiAP-U firmware version running on the affected device
  2. 2. Access the FortiAP-U management interface or use FortiManager/FortiCloud for centralized management
  3. 3. Download the latest FortiAP-U firmware from the Fortinet Support Portal (support.fortinet.com) - look for versions beyond the affected releases (5.4.7+, 6.0.5+, 6.2.6+, 7.0.1+)
  4. 4. Back up the current configuration
  5. 5. Upload and install the new firmware version
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the device is operational and test that the vulnerability is remediated
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration or feature changes between versions; minor firmware upgrades typically retain configuration but always backup first

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

Fix this in Fortiap U Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2023-36634 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