Overview
CVE-2025-46775 is a medium severity vulnerability affecting Fortinet FortiExtender devices. This vulnerability allows an authenticated user to potentially obtain administrator credentials through the exploitation of debug log commands. This could lead to a complete compromise of the affected FortiExtender device.
This article provides a detailed analysis of the vulnerability, its potential impact, and the necessary mitigation steps to protect your FortiExtender infrastructure.
Technical Details
The vulnerability resides in the improper handling of debug messages within FortiExtender. Specifically, sensitive information, including administrator credentials, may be inadvertently exposed within the debug logs. An authenticated user, even with limited privileges, can potentially trigger specific debug log commands that output these credentials. The vulnerability affects the following FortiExtender versions:
- FortiExtender 7.6.0 through 7.6.1
- FortiExtender 7.4.0 through 7.4.6
- FortiExtender 7.2 all versions
- FortiExtender 7.0 all versions
The root cause is a lack of proper sanitization and filtering of sensitive data before writing to the debug logs. This allows an attacker to craft specific requests that expose the desired credentials.
CVSS Analysis
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) provides a standardized way to assess the severity of security vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-46775 has been assigned the following CVSS score:
CVSS Score: 5.5 (Medium)
This score reflects the following characteristics:
- Attack Vector: Network
- Attack Complexity: Low
- Privileges Required: Low (Authenticated user)
- User Interaction: None
- Scope: Unchanged
- Confidentiality Impact: High
- Integrity Impact: None
- Availability Impact: None
The medium severity score is primarily due to the requirement for an authenticated user to exploit the vulnerability. However, the potential for complete compromise of the device makes it a significant risk.
Possible Impact
Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-46775 can have significant consequences, including:
- Administrator Access: An attacker can gain full administrator privileges on the FortiExtender device.
- Data Breach: Sensitive data stored or transmitted through the FortiExtender can be accessed and compromised.
- Network Compromise: The compromised FortiExtender can be used as a pivot point to attack other devices on the network.
- Service Disruption: The attacker can disable or disrupt the services provided by the FortiExtender.
Mitigation and Patch Steps
Fortinet has released patches to address this vulnerability. It is highly recommended to upgrade your FortiExtender devices to the latest versions as soon as possible.
- Upgrade FortiExtender: Upgrade to a version that is not affected by this vulnerability. Refer to Fortinet’s advisory for specific version recommendations.
- Review Access Controls: Implement strict access control policies to limit the number of users with access to the FortiExtender device.
- Monitor Debug Logs: Regularly monitor debug logs for any suspicious activity.
- Disable Unnecessary Features: Disable any features that are not required for the operation of the FortiExtender.
