Overview
CVE-2025-46215 is a medium severity vulnerability affecting Fortinet FortiSandbox. This Improper Isolation or Compartmentalization vulnerability [CWE-653] allows an unauthenticated attacker to bypass the sandboxing scan mechanism by submitting a specially crafted file. Successfully exploiting this vulnerability can prevent malicious files from being properly analyzed, leading to potential network compromise.
Technical Details
The vulnerability stems from a flaw in how FortiSandbox isolates and compartmentalizes the analyzed files during the sandboxing process. The crafted file exploits this weakness, enabling it to avoid triggering the sandbox environment’s analysis mechanisms. This essentially renders the sandboxing functionality ineffective for these specially crafted files. The affected versions are:
- FortiSandbox 5.0.0 through 5.0.1
- FortiSandbox 4.4.0 through 4.4.7
- FortiSandbox 4.2 all versions
- FortiSandbox 4.0 all versions
CVSS Analysis
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score for CVE-2025-46215 is 5.3 (Medium).
This score reflects the potential for an unauthenticated attacker to bypass security measures. While the impact isn’t directly causing system compromise, it creates a significant risk by preventing proper threat detection.
Possible Impact
The successful exploitation of this vulnerability can have several significant impacts:
- Bypassed Threat Detection: Malicious files can enter the network undetected, leading to potential malware infections, data breaches, or other security incidents.
- Compromised Network Security: The organization’s overall security posture is weakened, as the sandboxing mechanism is no longer reliable for certain types of threats.
- Increased Risk of Attack: Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to launch targeted attacks against the organization’s infrastructure.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
Fortinet has released patches to address this vulnerability. It is strongly recommended that users of the affected FortiSandbox versions upgrade to a patched version as soon as possible.
Specifically, upgrade to a version later than the versions mentioned above. Refer to the Fortinet advisory for the specific patched versions.
In the interim, consider implementing the following workarounds, though they may not be completely effective:
- Implement rigorous file validation and sanitization procedures at the network perimeter.
- Enhance existing security monitoring to detect suspicious file activity.
Note: These workarounds are not substitutes for patching.
