Security Resilience

CVE-2024-21762

Memory Safety in Fortinet Fortios 6.0.0 – 6.0.18

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRansomware-linkedMemory Safety
Published
09 February 2024
Modified
04 August 2026
KEV Added
09 February 2024
Patch / 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 0.83 99.7th percentile
Risk Priority 97 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-2024-21762 is a critical-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortios. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Security Account Manager (T1003.002); ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — 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-2024-21762 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability affecting Fortinet FortiOS versions 7.4.0-7.4.2, 7.2.0-7.2.6, 7.0.0-7.0.13, 6.4.0-6.4.14, 6.2.0-6.2.15 and 6.0.0-6.0.17, as well as FortiProxy versions 7.4.0-7.4.2, 7.2.0-7.2.8, 7.0.0-7.0.14, 2.0.0-2.0.13, 1.2.0-1.2.13, 1.1.0-1.1.6 and 1.0.0-1.0.7. The flaw is tracked as CWE-787 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit the issue over the network by sending specially crafted requests, resulting in execution of unauthorized code or commands with full impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability.

Fortinet's advisory FG-IR-24-015 and the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog address the issue and list affected releases.

The vulnerability appears in the CISA KEV catalog, confirming observed in-the-wild exploitation, while its EPSS score remains elevated near 0.93.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A out-of-bounds write in Fortinet FortiOS versions 7.4.0 through 7.4.2, 7.2.0 through 7.2.6, 7.0.0 through 7.0.13, 6.4.0 through 6.4.14, 6.2.0 through 6.2.15, 6.0.0 through 6.0.17, FortiProxy versions 7.4.0 through 7.4.2, 7.2.0 through 7.2.8, 7.0.0 through 7.0.14, 2.0.0 through 2.0.13, 1.2.0…

more

through 1.2.13, 1.1.0 through 1.1.6, 1.0.0 through 1.0.7 allows attacker to execute unauthorized code or commands via specifically crafted requests

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
09 February 2024

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2018-13383Same product: Fortinet Fortiosboth on KEV
CVE-2023-22639Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-42789Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-22640Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-33308Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-27997Same product: Fortinet Fortiosboth on KEV
CVE-2024-52963Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2022-42475Same product: Fortinet Fortiosboth on KEV
CVE-2024-23110Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2023-46720Same product: Fortinet Fortios

Affected Assets

fortinet
fortiproxy
1.0.0 — 2.0.14 · 7.0.0 — 7.0.15 · 7.2.0 — 7.2.9
fortinet
fortios
6.0.0 — 6.0.18 · 6.2.0 — 6.2.16 · 6.4.0 — 6.4.15

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and bounds checks) finds out-of-bounds write flaws before deployment.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Input validation can structurally reject or sanitize data that would otherwise trigger an out-of-bounds write.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability and blast radius of a successful out-of-bounds write.

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

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.

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References