CVE-2023-48785
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows remote unauthenticated attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks on HTTPS communications between FortiOS devices and FortiNAC-F. Attackers could intercept, modify, or inject data in what should be encrypted channels. Organizations using FortiNAC-F version 7.2.4 and below are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- FortiNAC-F
📦 What is this software?
Fortinac F by Fortinet
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could intercept sensitive administrative credentials, configuration data, or inventory information, potentially gaining full control over network access control systems.
Likely Case
Attackers intercept and manipulate network inventory data or administrative communications, leading to unauthorized network access or configuration changes.
If Mitigated
With proper network segmentation and monitoring, impact is limited to potential data leakage from intercepted communications.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires attacker to be positioned on network path between communicating systems to intercept traffic.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 7.2.5 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-23-288
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download FortiNAC-F version 7.2.5 or later from Fortinet support portal. 2. Backup current configuration. 3. Apply the update following Fortinet's upgrade procedures. 4. Restart the system to apply changes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
allIsolate FortiNAC-F management traffic to dedicated VLANs with strict access controls
Certificate Pinning
allImplement certificate pinning for FortiNAC-F communications if supported
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to limit attack surface
- Monitor for unusual certificate validation failures or MITM indicators
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check FortiNAC-F version via web interface or CLI: show system statusCheck Version:
show system status | grep VersionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 7.2.5 or later and test HTTPS certificate validation📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Certificate validation failures
- Unexpected certificate changes
- SSL/TLS handshake anomalies
Network Indicators:
- Unusual certificate authorities in HTTPS traffic
- MITM detection alerts
- SSL/TLS protocol violations
SIEM Query:
source="fortinac" AND (event_type="certificate_failure" OR event_type="ssl_error")