Unauthenticated administrative access via trusted proxy headers
Published Oct 18, 2022 · Updated Aug 6, 2026
Authentication bypass in Fortinet FortiOS, FortiProxy, and FortiSwitchManager allows remote attackers to perform administrative operations. The HTTPSD access check trusts attacker-controlled Forwarded and User-Agent headers, treating a spoofed loopback client using Report Runner as a trusted internal request. Network access to the HTTP or HTTPS management interface is sufficient to modify configuration, add administrator accounts, or retrieve configuration data without credentials.
Summary
What happened
Authentication bypass in Fortinet FortiOS, FortiProxy, and FortiSwitchManager allows remote attackers to perform administrative operations. The HTTPSD access check trusts attacker-controlled Forwarded and User-Agent headers, treating a spoofed loopback client using Report Runner as a trusted internal request. Network access to the HTTP or HTTPS management interface is sufficient to modify configuration, add administrator accounts, or retrieve configuration data without credentials.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-40684
- Published
- Oct 18, 2022
- Updated
- Aug 6, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-288, CWE-287, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 11, 2022Exploitation reportedCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog entry
- Oct 18, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 6, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
View daily counts
| Reporting day | Unique IPs |
|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 11, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 12, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 13, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 18 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 16 |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 17 |
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Horizon3.ai CVE-2022-40684 proof of conceptfunctional · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- Fortinet honeypot exploitation activityhoneypot
- CISA ransomware-campaign associationransomware
- Fortinet confirmed exploitationreported exploitation
- CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog entryknown exploited catalog
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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