CVE-2023-36634

Path Traversal in Fortinet Fortiap-U 5.4.0 – 5.4.6

Path Traversal

Published

13 September 2023

Modified

21 November 2024

Patch / advisory

View advisory

CVSS Score v3.1 7.1

Click a component to see what it means

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0063 49th percentile

Risk Priority 54 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-36634 is a high-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortiap-U. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique NTDS (T1003.003); ranked at the 49th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-40578

Vulnerability Data

An incomplete filtering of one or more instances of special elements vulnerability [CWE-792] in the command line interpreter of FortiAP-U 7.0.0, 6.2.0 through 6.2.5, 6.0 all versions, 5.4 all versions may allow an authenticated attacker to list and delete arbitrary…

files and directory via specially crafted command arguments.

CWE(s): CWE-73 NVD-CWE-Other

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.

attack.mitre.org →

T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.

attack.mitre.org →

T1005 Data from Local System Collection

Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.

attack.mitre.org →

T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery

Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.

attack.mitre.org →

T1010 Application Window Discovery Discovery

Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of open application windows.

attack.mitre.org →

T1012 Query Registry Discovery

Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.

attack.mitre.org →

Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-31492Same vendor: Fortinet

CVE-2023-45588Same vendor: Fortinet

CVE-2022-39952Same vendor: Fortinet

CVE-2025-53680Same product: Fortinet Fortiap-U

CVE-2025-24470Same vendor: Fortinet

CVE-2023-25608Same product: Fortinet Fortiap-U

CVE-2023-4191Shared CWE-73

CVE-2023-4634Shared CWE-73

CVE-2026-103398Shared CWE-73

CVE-2026-30276Shared CWE-73

Affected Assets

fortinet

fortiap-u

7.0.0 · 5.4.0 — 5.4.6 · 6.0.0 — 6.0.4 · 6.2.0 — 6.2.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent

Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect

Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden

Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate

Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

V5.3.2

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-10 Information Input Validation

addresses: CWE-73

Rejects externally supplied file or resource identifiers that fail validity checks.

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.AA-05 partial match

blocks

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

PR.PS-06 partial match

blocks

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

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.5.14 Information transfer partial match

removes

A.5.15 Access control partial match

removes

A.5.16 Identity management partial match

removes

A.5.17 Authentication information partial match

removes

A.5.18 Access rights partial match

removes

A.8.10 Information deletion partial match

removes