Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-39952

Path Traversal in Fortinet Fortinac 8.3.7 – 8.8.9

Published
16 February 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.99 100.0th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-39952 is a critical-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortinac. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.0% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2022-39952 is an external control of file name or path vulnerability affecting Fortinet FortiNAC versions 9.4.0, 9.2.0 through 9.2.5, 9.1.0 through 9.1.7, 8.8.0 through 8.8.11, 8.7.0 through 8.7.6, 8.6.0 through 8.6.5, 8.5.0 through 8.5.4, and 8.3.7. The flaw is tracked under CWE-73 and CWE-668 and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by sending a specially crafted HTTP request, resulting in execution of unauthorized code or commands on the affected appliance with no user interaction or privileges required.

The vendor advisory at https://fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-22-300 addresses the issue and should be consulted for available patches and mitigation steps applicable to supported FortiNAC releases.

The associated EPSS score stands at 0.9378 with no material rise from a lower baseline, indicating sustained high exploitation interest since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A external control of file name or path in Fortinet FortiNAC versions 9.4.0, 9.2.0 through 9.2.5, 9.1.0 through 9.1.7, 8.8.0 through 8.8.11, 8.7.0 through 8.7.6, 8.6.0 through 8.6.5, 8.5.0 through 8.5.4, 8.3.7 may allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute unauthorized…

more

code or commands via specifically crafted HTTP request.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Unauthenticated remote attacker sends crafted HTTP request to execute arbitrary code/commands on FortiNAC appliance.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: MEDIUM
Successful exploitation results in execution of unauthorized commands on the target system.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-33299Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2023-26206Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2023-33300Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2024-31488Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2023-22638Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2023-22633Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2023-26203Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2023-22637Same product: Fortinet Fortinac
CVE-2026-59835Same vendor: Fortinet
CVE-2023-36634Same vendor: Fortinet

Affected Assets

fortinet
fortinac
8.3.7 — 8.8.9 · 9.1.0 — 9.1.8 · 9.2.0 — 9.2.6

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 8 hardening rules · 7 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly blocks the crafted HTTP requests that manipulate file names/paths to achieve unauthorized code execution.

prevent

Enforces access control decisions so that unauthenticated remote requests cannot invoke the vulnerable file/path handling functionality.

prevent

Requires timely application of vendor patches that eliminate the external file/path control flaw in FortiNAC.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices include input validation and path sanitization that eliminate this weakness.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Least-privilege file authorization directly limits damage from externally controlled paths.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Network segmentation and unauthorized-access protections reduce the chance of resources being reachable by the wrong sphere.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing can detect path-traversal issues but does not itself implement preventive controls.

mitigates

Placing systems of differing trust levels into separate domains prevents resources from being placed in a sphere where they are reachable by unintended actors.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent external file/path manipulation.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against untrusted input influencing file operations.

prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe concrete file-name controls.

prevents

Secure coding standards require canonicalization, allow-listing, and bounds checks on file paths, directly eliminating CWE-73.

References