CVE-2024-55591 – Authentication Bypass in FortiOS and FortiProxy
A critical Authentication Bypass vulnerability has been identified in FortiOS and FortiProxy, allowing remote attackers to gain super-admin privileges via crafted requests to the Node.js WebSocket module. Affected versions include FortiOS 7.0.0 through 7.0.16, FortiProxy 7.0.0 through 7.0.19, and FortiProxy 7.2.0 through 7.2.12. Reports indicate that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild.
Indicators of compromise include the creation of suspicious new admin users with six-character random strings (e.g., Gujhmk, Ypda8a). Additionally, attackers have been observed using the following IPs: 45.55.158.47, 87.249.138.47, 155.133.4.175, 37.19.196.65, and 149.22.94.37.
The IONIX research team is actively monitoring the situation and will provide updates if a public exploit becomes available. Meanwhile, the list of potentially impacted assets can be found in this post. For detailed guidance, refer to Fortinet’s Upgrade Tool and follow the provided workaround instructions.