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FortiosOperating system · Fortinet

CVE-2023-40721

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.2.0 / 7.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 use of externally-controlled format string vulnerability [CWE-134] vulnerability in Fortinet allows a privileged attacker to execute arbitrary code or commands via specially crafted 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 · moderate confidence

A format string vulnerability (CWE-134) in Fortinet products allows a privileged attacker to execute arbitrary code or commands through specially crafted requests. The flaw occurs when user-supplied input is improperly used in format string functions, enabling an attacker to read from or write to memory locations.

MitigationApply vendor-provided security patches for the affected Fortinet product. Until a patch is available, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious requests.

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
Affected:>= 6.2.0, < 7.0.14>= 7.2.0, < 7.2.7= 7.4.0
FortiswitchmanagerApplication
Affected:>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.3>= 7.2.0, < 7.2.3
FortiproxyApplication
Affected:>= 1.2.0, < 7.0.15>= 7.2.0, < 7.2.8= 7.4.0
FortipamOperating system
Affected:>= 1.0.0, < 1.2.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 Fortinet product and version
    Run 'get system status' via CLI or check the web UI dashboard for the firmware version. Note the exact version number displayed (e.g., 7.2.5).
    Affected if The product is FortiOS, FortiProxy, FortiSwitch Manager, or FortiPAM and the version falls within the affected ranges: FortiOS 6.2.0-7.0.13, 7.2.0-7.2.6, or 7.4.0; FortiSwitch Manager 7.0.0-7.0.2, 7.2.0-7.2.2; FortiProxy 1.2.0-7.0.14, 7.2.0-7.2.7, or 7.4.0; FortiPAM 1.0.0-1.1.x.
  2. Confirm administrative access is enabled
    Check 'show system interface' and look for management interfaces (port1, mgmt, etc.) with 'set allowaccess https http ssh' or similar. Run 'get hardware nic' to see which interfaces are active.
    Affected if The administrative interface (HTTPS, HTTP, or SSH) is bound to a reachable network interface, especially if accessible from untrusted networks.
  3. Check for privileged user accounts
    Run 'get system admin' to list administrative accounts. Verify which users have 'super_admin' or 'admin' profile privileges.
    Affected if There are privileged admin accounts configured, as the CVE requires a privileged attacker to exploit the format string vulnerability.

A user is affected if they are running any of the listed Fortinet products within the specified version ranges AND the administrative interface is accessible to privileged users, since the format string flaw requires a privileged attacker to craft malicious requests.

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 1.2.0 / 7.0.3 / 7.0.14 or later
Fixed in 1.2.07.0.37.0.14
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-provided security patches for the affected Fortinet product. Until a patch is available, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious requests.

Recommended fix High confidence

FortiOS: 7.0.14+, 7.2.7+, or 7.4.1+ | FortiSwitch Manager: 7.0.3+, 7.2.3+ | FortiProxy: 7.0.15+, 7.2.8+, 7.4.1+ | FortiPAM: 1.2.0+

  1. 1. Identify the affected Fortinet product (FortiOS, FortiSwitch Manager, FortiProxy, or FortiPAM) running in your environment
  2. 2. Check the current version of the affected product using the CLI command: 'get system status' or through the web UI
  3. 3. Based on your current version branch, plan the upgrade:
  4. - If running FortiOS 6.2.x: upgrade to FortiOS 7.0.14 or later (recommended 7.0.x latest), or 7.2.7+, or 7.4.1+
  5. - If running FortiOS 7.0.x: upgrade to FortiOS 7.0.14 or later
  6. - If running FortiOS 7.2.x: upgrade to FortiOS 7.2.7 or later
  7. - If running FortiOS 7.4.0: upgrade to FortiOS 7.4.1 or later
  8. - If running FortiSwitch Manager 7.0.x: upgrade to 7.0.3 or later
Caveat Standard Fortinet firmware upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for migration path, backup configuration, and test in non-production environment first

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

Fix this in Fortios Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-40721 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