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FortiadcApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2023-37933

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.1.4 / 7.2.2 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 neutralization of input during web page generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability [CWE-79] in FortiADC GUI version 7.4.0, 7.2.0 through 7.2.1 and before 7.1.3 allows an authenticated attacker to perform an XSS attack via crafted HTTP or HTTPs requests.

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

A stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in FortiADC GUI versions 7.4.0, 7.2.0-7.2.1, and before 7.1.3 allows authenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript through crafted HTTP/HTTPS requests that executes in other users' browsers when viewing the affected interface.

MitigationUpgrade FortiADC to version 7.1.3 or later, 7.2.2 or later, or 7.4.1 or later to patch the XSS vulnerability.

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
FortiadcApplication
Affected:>= 5.3.0, < 7.1.4>= 7.2.0, < 7.2.2= 7.4.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify FortiADC installation
    Log into the FortiADC device via CLI and run the command: get system status. Look for the firmware version in the output.
    Affected if The device is not FortiADC (different product)
  2. Check installed FortiADC version
    In the CLI output from get system status, locate the Version field (for example: FortiADC-7.4.0). Compare this version number against the affected ranges: < 7.1.4, 7.2.0-7.2.1, or 7.4.0.
    Affected if The installed version falls within >= 5.3.0 and < 7.1.4, OR >= 7.2.0 and < 7.2.2, OR equals exactly 7.4.0
  3. Verify GUI interface is accessible
    Confirm the FortiADC web GUI is enabled and accessible. From CLI, run: get system interface. Check that the management interface (such as mgmt1) has https or http service enabled.
    Affected if The GUI interface is enabled and reachable (required for the XSS to affect other users)
  4. Confirm authentication methods
    Check if user authentication is configured for GUI access. Run: get system admin. Verify that administrative accounts exist that could potentially inject the malicious payload.
    Affected if GUI authentication is configured and users can log in (authentication is required for the attacker to inject the XSS payload)

A user is affected if their FortiADC version matches one of the vulnerable ranges AND the GUI interface is enabled with valid authentication configured.

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 7.1.4 / 7.2.2 or later
Fixed in 7.1.47.2.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FortiADC to version 7.1.3 or later, 7.2.2 or later, or 7.4.1 or later to patch the XSS vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

7.1.4, 7.2.2, or 7.4.1 (or later stable releases within each respective branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current FortiADC firmware version by navigating to FortiADC GUI > Dashboard > System Information widget or via CLI: 'get system status'
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on current version: if on 5.3.x-7.0.x upgrade to 7.1.4+, if on 7.1.x upgrade to 7.1.4+, if on 7.2.0-7.2.1 upgrade to 7.2.2+, if on 7.4.0 upgrade to 7.4.1+
  3. 3. Download the appropriate firmware image from Fortinet Customer Support portal (https://support.fortinet.com/)
  4. 4. Back up the current FortiADC configuration via GUI: System > Maintenance > Backup & Restore > Backup, or CLI: 'execute backup config tftp <config-file> <tftp-server>'
  5. 5. Upload the new firmware image via GUI: System > Firmware > Upload, or CLI: 'execute restore image tftp <firmware-file> <tftp-server>'
  6. 6. Reboot the FortiADC device to apply the new firmware via CLI: 'execute reboot'
  7. 7. After reboot, verify the new version is installed: 'get system status' and confirm the fix is applied
  8. 8. Verify the XSS vulnerability is resolved by testing the affected GUI functionality
Caveat Major version upgrades may require configuration review; test in staging environment before production deployment

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

Fix this in Fortiadc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,780
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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-2023-37933 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