FortiosOperating system · Fortinet
CVE-2023-41841
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 · uneditedAn improper authorization vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 7.0.0 - 7.0.11 and 7.2.0 - 7.2.4 allows an attacker belonging to the prof-admin profile to perform elevated actions.
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 confidenceFortiOS 7.0.0-7.0.11 and 7.2.0-7.2.4 contains an improper authorization flaw where users with prof-admin profile can perform elevated actions beyond their intended privilege level. This represents a vertical privilege escalation within the FortiOS administrative interface.
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
>= 7.0.0, <= 7.0.11>= 7.2.0, <= 7.2.4CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check FortiOS versionRun 'get system status' or 'fortios -v' via CLI or check in the web UI under Dashboard > StatusAffected if Version is 7.0.0 through 7.0.11 or 7.2.0 through 7.2.4
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Identify prof-admin profiles in useRun 'get system accprofile' or 'show system accprofile' to list all administrative profilesAffected if Any prof-admin or custom accprofile with elevated privileges is configured for administrative users
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Review administrative user assignmentsRun 'get admin user' to see which users are assigned to prof-admin profilesAffected if Users are assigned to prof-admin profiles that could be exploited for vertical privilege escalation
A user is affected if FortiOS version falls within 7.0.0-7.0.11 or 7.2.0-7.2.4 AND prof-admin profiles are configured and assigned to users.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpgrade FortiOS to version 7.0.12 or later (for 7.0.x branch) or 7.2.5 or later (for 7.2.x branch). Prior to upgrading, assess current configurations and schedule maintenance window to minimize operational impact.
FortiOS 7.0.12+ or 7.2.5+ (or latest 7.4.x stable release)
- 1. Identify the current FortiOS version by running: get system status
- 2. If running FortiOS 7.0.x (7.0.0-7.0.11), plan upgrade to version 7.0.12 or later
- 3. If running FortiOS 7.2.x (7.2.0-7.2.4), plan upgrade to version 7.2.5 or later
- 4. Review Fortinet release notes for the target version to confirm the security fix is included
- 5. Backup current FortiOS configuration before performing upgrade
- 6. Download the firmware image from Fortinet support portal
- 7. Upload and install the firmware through FortiOS GUI or CLI: execute upgrade firmware
- 8. After upgrade, verify the system is operational and the new version is running: get system status
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Fortios
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-41841 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-41841 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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