Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-33300 is a medium-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortinac. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) 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-2023-33300 is a command injection vulnerability, tracked under CWE-77, that affects Fortinet FortiNAC versions 7.2.1 and earlier as well as 9.4.3 and earlier. The flaw resides in the inter-server communication port and stems from improper neutralization of special elements used in commands, enabling limited unauthorized file access when a specifically crafted request is processed. It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3 with a vector of AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N.
An unauthenticated attacker with network access can exploit the issue by sending crafted requests to the inter-server port, resulting in limited integrity impact through unauthorized file access without requiring user interaction or elevated privileges.
The Fortinet advisory FG-IR-23-096 provides official guidance on the vulnerability. The EPSS score reached a peak of 0.0548 on 2025-12-11 before receding to the current value of 0.0400.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-37463
Vulnerability Data
A improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in Fortinet FortiNAC 7.2.1 and earlier, 9.4.3 and earlier allows attacker a limited, unauthorized file access via specifically crafted request in inter-server communication port.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.
Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.
Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.
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.
A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices including secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training that reduce command injection defects, but leaves a minority slice (e.g. incomplete implementation of those practices, outsourced development without full assurance, or post-SDLC changes) where the weakness can still arise and be exploitable.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.
A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. distrust external input, secure session control, data validation/sanitization, least privilege) and design reviews that can stop command injection from being introduced, but this is only a minority slice of CWE-77 because the weakness can still arise in code that bypasses those principles, in non-reviewed components, or in runtime injection vectors the architecture review does not reach.
Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.
Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-77, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.