Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-42791 is a high-severity Relative Path Traversal (CWE-23) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortimanager. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 10% 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.
A relative path traversal vulnerability affects Fortinet FortiManager versions 7.4.0, 7.2.0 through 7.2.3, 7.0.0 through 7.0.8, 6.4.0 through 6.4.12, and 6.2.0 through 6.2.11. Tracked as CVE-2023-42791 and assigned CWE-23 and CWE-22, the flaw permits an attacker to execute unauthorized code or commands by sending specially crafted HTTP requests. It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8.
An authenticated attacker with low privileges can exploit the issue remotely over the network without user interaction. Successful exploitation grants the ability to run arbitrary commands, resulting in complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the affected FortiManager instance.
The official FortiGuard advisory FG-IR-23-189 at https://fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-23-189 details available patches and mitigation steps for the listed versions. The associated EPSS score has reached a peak of 0.1437 with a current value of 0.1128.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-47221
Vulnerability Data
A relative path traversal in Fortinet FortiManager version 7.4.0 and 7.2.0 through 7.2.3 and 7.0.0 through 7.0.8 and 6.4.0 through 6.4.12 and 6.2.0 through 6.2.11 allows attacker to execute unauthorized code or commands via crafted HTTP requests.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.
Explicit validation of path inputs stops .. sequences from ever being interpreted by the file system.
Information-flow rules can be configured to reject traversals that would move data outside an approved directory boundary.
Least privilege reduces the set of reachable files even when a traversal succeeds.
Secure-engineering principles require safe pathname construction and input neutralization before any file operation.
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.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent relative traversal.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
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.