Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-21753

Path Traversal in Fortinet Forticlient Endpoint Management Server 1.2.1 – 1.2.5

Published
10 September 2024
Modified
25 September 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0074 51th percentile
Risk Priority 44 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-21753 is a medium-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Fortinet Forticlient Endpoint Management Server. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 49% 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.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory ('path traversal') in Fortinet FortiClientEMS versions 7.2.0 through 7.2.4, 7.0.0 through 7.0.13, 6.4.0 through 6.4.9, 6.2.0 through 6.2.9, 6.0.0 through 6.0.8, 1.2.1 through 1.2.5 allows attacker to perform a denial…

more

of service, read or write a limited number of files via specially crafted HTTP requests

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-48884Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2025-61624Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2022-41328Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2018-13379Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2025-54659Same vendor: Fortinet
CVE-2024-36508Same vendor: Fortinet
CVE-2024-2552Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2023-34298Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2023-39339Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2024-31487Same vendor: Fortinet

Affected Assets

fortinet
forticlient endpoint management server
1.2.1 — 1.2.5 · 6.0.0 — 6.0.8 · 6.2.0 — 6.2.9

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.

Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.

Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.

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-02 partial match
prevents

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.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

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.

finds

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References