CriticalCVE-2025-61624

    Fortinet Multiple Products Path Traversal Vulnerability (CVE-2025-61624)

    Published Last modified In CISA KEV since Sources: Siemens ProductCERT, BSI, CVE.org, EUVD

    What is affected, what to do

    An Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') [CWE-22] vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 7.6.0 through 7.6.4, FortiOS 7.4.0 through 7.4.9, FortiOS 7.2 all versions, FortiOS 7.0 all versions, FortiOS 6.4 all versions, FortiPAM 1.7.0, FortiPAM 1.6 all versions, FortiPAM 1.5 all versions, FortiPAM 1.4 all versions, FortiPAM 1.3 all versions, FortiPAM 1.2 all versions, FortiPAM 1.1 all versions, FortiPAM 1.0 all versions, FortiProxy 7.6.0 through 7.6.4, FortiProxy 7.4.0 through 7.4.11, FortiProxy 7.2 all versions, FortiProxy 7.0 all versions, FortiSwitchManager 7.2.0 through 7.2.7, FortiSwitchManager 7.0.0 through 7.0.6 may allow an authenticated attacker with admin profile and at least read-write permissions to write or delete arbitrary files via specific CLI commands.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update fortiproxy to version 7.4.12, fortiswitchmanager to version 7.0.7, FortiOS to version 7.4.10. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • Fortinet FortiOS lte 7.6.0..7.6.4
    • Fortinet FortiOS lte 7.4.0..7.4.9
    • Fortinet FortiOS lte 7.2.0..7.2.13
    • Fortinet FortiOS lte 7.0.0..7.0.19
    • Fortinet FortiOS lte 6.4.0..6.4.16
    • Fortinet FortiProxy lte 7.6.0..7.6.4
    • Fortinet FortiProxy lte 7.4.0..7.4.11
    • Fortinet FortiProxy lte 7.2.0..7.2.16
    • Fortinet FortiProxy lte 7.0.0..7.0.23
    • Fortinet FortiSwitchManager lte 7.2.0..7.2.7
    • Fortinet FortiSwitchManager lte 7.0.0..7.0.6
    • Fortinet FortiPAM eq 1.7.0..1.7.0
    • Fortinet FortiPAM lte 1.6.0..1.6.2
    • Fortinet FortiPAM lte 1.5.0..1.5.1
    • Fortinet FortiPAM lte 1.4.0..1.4.3
    • Fortinet FortiPAM lte 1.3.0..1.3.1
    • Fortinet FortiPAM eq 1.2.0..1.2.0
    • Fortinet FortiPAM lte 1.1.0..1.1.2
    • Fortinet FortiPAM lte 1.0.0..1.0.3

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    6.5

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    5.4

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Siemens ProductCERT, BSI, CVE.org, EUVD

    1.1 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 64.6

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority score

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    176.96
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploited (KEV)Source: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab)
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    6.5
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    5.4
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    1.1 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    64.6
    High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-22

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    The flaw is network-reachable but requires an authenticated, highly privileged account. In practice it is a post-compromise stage after admin credentials are stolen: writing arbitrary files for persistence, wiping traces, or deleting system files for sabotage. Its KEV listing shows attackers use exactly this chain against perimeter devices, mainly at organisations with internet-exposed Fortinet management planes or weak admin authentication. CISA reports no ransomware use, and the predicted exploitation likelihood is moderate. Treat it as high priority, patched within days, if management interfaces are reachable, admin MFA is missing, or there is a history of Fortinet compromise. With strictly segmented management, the standard accelerated patch cycle is sufficient.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Inventory: List every FortiOS, FortiProxy, FortiPAM and FortiSwitchManager instance with its firmware version (get system status). Affected are FortiOS 7.6.0–7.6.4, 7.4.0–7.4.9 and all versions of 7.2, 7.0 and 6.4. Also affected are FortiProxy 7.6.0–7.6.4, 7.4.0–7.4.11 and all versions of 7.2 and 7.0, plus FortiPAM 1.0–1.7.0 and FortiSwitchManager 7.2.0–7.2.7 and 7.0.0–7.0.6.
      • Patch: A fix is available from the vendor. Look up the fixed version in the Fortinet PSIRT advisory (FG-IR). The FortiOS 7.2/7.0/6.4, FortiProxy 7.2/7.0 and FortiPAM ≤1.6 branches are affected in every release, so plan a migration to a fixed major branch (7.4/7.6 or the current FortiPAM release).
      • Lock down admin access: Strip https, ssh, http and telnet from allowaccess on every WAN or internet-facing interface. Allow admin access only from a dedicated management VLAN or jump host.
      • Audit admin accounts: Enumerate every account with an admin profile and read-write rights (show system admin). Disable unknown accounts and rotate passwords and API tokens. This is especially important if credentials have leaked before or the organisation has a prior Fortinet incident.
      • Preserve evidence before upgrading: Export the config backup, event logs and CLI audit logs to off-box storage. Exploiting this flaw allows arbitrary file deletion, which includes forensic traces.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Network segmentation: Use local-in policies (config firewall local-in-policy) to permit admin ports (default TCP 443/22, or the configured admin-sport/admin-ssh-port) only from defined admin subnets. Drop all other access.
      • Trusted hosts: Set set trusthost1 <admin-subnet> on every admin account so stolen credentials only work from the management network.
      • IAM / least privilege: Minimise read-write admin profiles and use read-only profiles for operations and monitoring staff. Enforce MFA (FortiToken, or RADIUS/TACACS+ with MFA) for all admin logins, and vault local break-glass accounts.
      • Logging hardening: Enable config system global → set cli-audit-log enable. Forward event and CLI logs to syslog or FortiAnalyzer in near real time, so local file deletion cannot erase the audit trail.
      • Integrity verification: After upgrading, diff the running config against a known-good baseline from config management. If tampering is suspected, rebuild the device per Fortinet guidance rather than just patching it.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Admin logins from unexpected sources (FortiGate event log, subtype=system): index=fortinet logdesc="Admin login successful" NOT src_ip IN (<admin_nets>) | stats count by user, src_ip, ui. Correlate bursts of logdesc="Admin login failed" followed by a success.
      • Path-traversal patterns in the CLI audit log: index=fortinet (cli OR msg) ("../" OR "..\\" OR "%2e%2e") | table _time, user, ui, msg. As a Sigma shape: logsource product=fortinet, field msg|contains: '../', filtered to admin-profile users.
      • Changes to admin objects: Events with cfgpath matching system.admin, system.accprofile or system.api-user (new accounts, privilege escalation, new trusted hosts) outside approved change windows.
      • Sabotage or denial-of-service indicators: unexpected reboots, crash logs, conserve mode or failed services following an admin session. Correlate these with a preceding admin login within 30 minutes.
      • Network telemetry (Zeek/Suricata): SSH and HTTPS sessions to Fortinet management IPs from hosts outside the jump-host allowlist, e.g. Zeek ssh.log or conn.log with id.resp_h in <forti_mgmt_ips> and id.orig_h !in <jump_hosts>.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    An Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') [CWE-22] vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 7.6.0 through 7.6.4, FortiOS 7.4.0 through 7.4.9, FortiOS 7.2 all versions, FortiOS 7.0 all versions, FortiOS 6.4 all versions, FortiPAM 1.7.0, FortiPAM 1.6 all versions, FortiPAM 1.5 all versions, FortiPAM 1.4 all versions, FortiPAM 1.3 all versions, FortiPAM 1.2 all versions, FortiPAM 1.1 all versions, FortiPAM 1.0 all versions, FortiProxy 7.6.0 through 7.6.4, FortiProxy 7.4.0 through 7.4.11, FortiProxy 7.2 all versions, FortiProxy 7.0 all versions, FortiSwitchManager 7.2.0 through 7.2.7, FortiSwitchManager 7.0.0 through 7.0.6 may allow an authenticated attacker with admin profile and at least read-write permissions to write or delete arbitrary files via specific CLI commands.

    Source: siemens_advisory, BSI CSAF, BSI WID Portal, NVD (NIST), CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE), ENISA EUVD, cvelistv5

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
    FortinetFortiProxy
    • 7.0.0 – ≤ 7.0.23
    • 7.2.0 – ≤ 7.2.16
    • 7.4.0 – ≤ 7.4.11
    • 7.6.0 – ≤ 7.6.4
    • < 7.4.12
    • < 7.6.5
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • 7.4.12
    • 7.6.5
    FortinetFortiSwitchManager
    • 7.0.0 – ≤ 7.0.6
    • 7.2.0 – ≤ 7.2.7
    • —
    • —
    fortinetfortiproxy
    • 7.0.0 – < 7.4.12
    • 7.6.0 – < 7.6.5
    • 7.4.12
    • 7.6.5
    fortinetfortiswitchmanager
    • 7.0.0 – < 7.0.7
    • 7.2.0 – < 7.2.8
    • 7.0.7
    • 7.2.8
    FortinetFortiOS
    • < 7.4.10
    • < 7.6.5
    • 7.4.10
    • 7.6.5
    FortinetFortiSwitch Manager
    • < 7.0.7
    • < 7.2.8
    • 7.0.7
    • 7.2.8

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    FamilyVendorProductVersion
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.0
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.1
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.10
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.11
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.12
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.13
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.14
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.15
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.16
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.2
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.3
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.4
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.5
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.6
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.7
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.8
    Mobilefortinetfortios6.4.9
    Mobilefortinetfortios7.0.0
    Mobilefortinetfortios7.0.1
    Mobilefortinetfortios7.0.10
    Mobilefortinetfortios7.0.11
    Mobilefortinetfortios7.0.12
    Mobilefortinetfortios7.0.13
    Mobilefortinetfortios7.0.14

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

      Base

      The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-22

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    SourceReferenceMaturityPublished
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited (KEV)

    References & sources

    Reanalysis & status changes

    Chronological NVD audit events for this CVE — reanalyses, CVSS updates, CPE diffs.

    1. CVE Modified134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

      • SSVC: before {"id":"CVE-2025-61624","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technica…
      • SSVC: after {"id":"CVE-2025-61624","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technica…

    2. Modified Analysisnvd@nist.gov

      • CPE Configuration: after AND OR *cpe:2.3:o:siemens:ruggedcom_ape1808_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* OR cpe:2.3:h:siemens:ruggedcom_ape1808:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
      • Reference Type: after CISA-ADP: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/fortimanager-cve-2024-47575-peerstitch-malware/#post-188095-_guyq53ar8k05 Types: Third Party Advisory
      • Reference Type: after siemens-SADP: https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-975644.html Types: Third Party Advisory
      • Reference Type: after CISA-ADP: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-61624 Types: US Government Resource

    3. CVE CISA KEV Update9119a7d8-5eab-497f-8521-727c672e3725

      • Date Added: after 2026-10-16
      • Due Date: after 2026-10-16
      • Required Action: after 2026-10-16
      • Vulnerability Name: after 2026-10-16

    4. CVE Modified134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

      • Reference: after https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-61624
      • SSVC: before {"id":"CVE-2025-61624","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalI…
      • SSVC: after {"id":"CVE-2025-61624","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technica…

    5. CVE Modified134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

      • SSVC: before {"id":"CVE-2025-61624","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalI…
      • SSVC: after {"id":"CVE-2025-61624","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalI…

    Linked advisories