Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-53609

Path Traversal in Fortinet Fortiweb 7.0.2 – 7.2.12

Published
09 September 2025
Modified
10 September 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.090 95th percentile
Risk Priority 48 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-53609 is a medium-severity Relative Path Traversal (CWE-23) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortiweb. Its CVSS base score is 4.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A Relative Path Traversal vulnerability [CWE-23] in FortiWeb 7.6.0 through 7.6.4, 7.4.0 through 7.4.8, 7.2.0 through 7.2.11, 7.0.2 through 7.0.11 may allow an authenticated attacker to perform an arbitrary file read on the underlying system via crafted 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.
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.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-39814Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2025-64446Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2023-23778Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2023-23784Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2025-25257Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2024-55597Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2024-55593Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2025-25254Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2024-55594Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb
CVE-2023-42784Same product: Fortinet Fortiweb

Affected Assets

fortinet
fortiweb
7.0.2 — 7.2.12 · 7.4.0 — 7.4.9 · 7.6.0 — 7.6.5

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Explicit validation of path inputs stops .. sequences from ever being interpreted by the file system.

Access enforcement directly blocks unauthorized file reads/writes that result from unresolved .. sequences.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent relative traversal.

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, but does not itself implement the fix.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent relative path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against path traversal and other injection flaws.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include directory isolation and canonicalization, reducing but not eliminating traversal risk.

prevents

Secure coding standards require neutralizing path traversal sequences, directly addressing CWE-23.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files can be reached, mitigating impact but not preventing the traversal flaw.

References