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FortiadcApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2023-50181

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.2.5 / 7.4.2 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 Fortinet FortiADC version 7.4.0 through 7.4.1 and before 7.2.4 allows a read only authenticated attacker to perform some write actions 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 · moderate confidence

FortiADC versions 7.4.0-7.4.1 and before 7.2.4 contain an improper access control vulnerability allowing authenticated users with read-only privileges to bypass restrictions and execute certain write actions via crafted HTTP/HTTPS requests, representing a privilege escalation/authorization bypass issue.

MitigationUpgrade FortiADC to version 7.2.4 or later, or version 7.4.2 or later, to remediate this improper access control 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:>= 6.0.0, < 7.2.5>= 7.4.0, < 7.4.2

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Check FortiADC firmware version via CLI
    Run the command: get system status or version on the FortiADC CLI. Look for the Firmware version field.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within 7.4.0 through 7.4.1, or is 7.2.x before 7.2.4, or is 6.x before 7.2.5.
  2. Check FortiADC version via web UI
    Log into the FortiADC web UI, navigate to Dashboard > System Information widget, or go to System > Settings to view the firmware version.
    Affected if The version shown is within the affected ranges (6.0.0 to 7.2.4, or 7.4.0 to 7.4.1).
  3. Identify read-only user accounts
    In FortiADC CLI, run: config system admin then show to list admin users. Look for users with access profile set to a read-only profile (such as prof_admin_readonly or custom profiles with limited permissions).
    Affected if There exist administrator accounts configured with read-only or restricted write access profiles.
  4. Verify if write actions can be triggered via read-only session
    This is a manual verification: as a read-only user, attempt to modify configuration via crafted HTTP/HTTPS requests to endpoints that should be restricted. This check is for verification rather than routine detection.
    Affected if A read-only user can successfully modify configuration or execute write operations that should be blocked.

You are affected if your FortiADC version is 6.0.0 through 7.2.4, or 7.4.0 through 7.4.1, AND you have read-only admin users configured who could potentially exploit this authorization bypass.

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 7.2.5 / 7.4.2 or later
Fixed in 7.2.57.4.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FortiADC to version 7.2.4 or later, or version 7.4.2 or later, to remediate this improper access control vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

FortiADC 7.4.2 (or 7.2.5 for the 7.2.x branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current FortiADC version by navigating to System > FortiView > Dashboard in the web UI or running 'get system status' in the CLI
  2. 2. If running version 7.4.0 or 7.4.1, plan upgrade to version 7.4.2 or later
  3. 3. If running version 6.0.0 through 7.2.4, plan upgrade to version 7.2.5 or later (7.4.x recommended if compatible with environment)
  4. 4. Review Fortinet release notes for upgrade prerequisites and any configuration considerations
  5. 5. Before upgrading, backup the current configuration via System > Maintenance > Backup & Restore in the web UI or 'execute backup config' in the CLI
  6. 6. Perform the firmware upgrade via System > Firmware in the web UI or 'execute system firmware upgrade' in the CLI
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the system status and confirm the vulnerability is resolved by checking the firmware version
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration changes or deprecated features between versions; standard practice to backup configuration before any firmware upgrade

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

Fix this in Fortiadc 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-2023-50181 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