Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-33308

Memory Safety in Fortinet Fortiproxy 7.0.0 – 7.0.9

Memory Safety
Published
26 July 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.021 80th percentile
Risk Priority 79 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-33308 is a critical-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortiproxy. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 20% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Fortinet FortiOS versions 7.0.0 through 7.0.10 and 7.2.0 through 7.2.3, as well as FortiProxy versions 7.0.0 through 7.0.9 and 7.2.0 through 7.2.2. The flaw, tracked under CWE-121 and CWE-787, is triggered when specially crafted packets reach proxy policies or firewall policies configured for proxy mode with deep or full packet inspection enabled.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can send malicious packets over the network to exploit the issue, achieving arbitrary code or command execution with no user interaction required. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8, reflecting its critical severity due to network accessibility and full impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The vendor advisory FG-IR-23-183, published on the FortiGuard PSIRT site, provides official details and should be consulted for mitigation steps such as applying available patches or configuration changes. The associated EPSS score has remained stable at 0.0760 with no observed increase following disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A stack-based overflow vulnerability [CWE-124] in Fortinet FortiOS version 7.0.0 through 7.0.10 and 7.2.0 through 7.2.3 and FortiProxy version 7.0.0 through 7.0.9 and 7.2.0 through 7.2.2 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code or command via crafted packets…

more

reaching proxy policies or firewall policies with proxy mode alongside deep or full packet inspection.

CWE(s)
CWE-121CWE-787

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-22639Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2018-13383Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-22640Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-46718Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-42790Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-29182Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-46720Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2024-26010Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2024-23110Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2025-58413Same product: Fortinet Fortios

Affected Assets

fortinet
fortiproxy
7.2.0, 7.2.1, 7.2.2 · 7.0.0 — 7.0.9
fortinet
fortios
7.0.0 — 7.0.10 · 7.2.0 — 7.2.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

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Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-787

Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121

References