CISA has issued an pressing alert a few important vulnerability in Fortinet’s FortiWeb Net Software Firewall (WAF), actively exploited by menace actors to grab administrative management of affected techniques.
Tracked as CVE-2025-64446, the flaw stems from a relative path traversal challenge (CWE-23) that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary administrative instructions by way of specifically crafted HTTP or HTTPS requests.
Added to CISA’s Identified Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on November 14, 2025, the vulnerability carries a due date of November 21 for federal businesses to use mitigations or discontinue use.
Fortinet’s advisory (FG-IR-25-910) confirms the difficulty impacts a number of FortiWeb variations, together with these working firmware as much as 7.4.7 and seven.6.5. Attackers can exploit it with out authentication, probably main to finish system compromise, knowledge exfiltration, or deployment of malware.
Whereas it’s unknown whether or not the vulnerability has been tied to ransomware campaigns, safety researchers have reported real-world exploitation within the wild concentrating on organizations in sectors like finance and healthcare.
FortiWeb WAF Vulnerability Exploited within the Wild
“This path traversal bug is a basic however harmful oversight in file dealing with,” mentioned cybersecurity skilled Maria Chen, a vulnerability researcher at a number one menace intelligence agency. “Unauthenticated entry to admin features turns a WAF meant to guard internet apps right into a backdoor for attackers.”
Fortinet urges instant patching to the newest variations, corresponding to 7.4.8 or 7.6.6, and recommends limiting administrative entry through community segmentation.
For cloud-deployed situations, CISA advises adherence to Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01, which mandates well timed remediation of vulnerabilities in federal techniques.
Organizations unable to patch ought to isolate affected gadgets and monitor for indicators of compromise, corresponding to uncommon HTTP site visitors patterns or unauthorized command execution.
The flaw highlights ongoing dangers in community safety home equipment, that are prime targets for superior persistent threats (APTs). As exploitation ramps up, specialists warn that unpatched FortiWeb deployments may amplify broader assault chains, corresponding to lateral motion in enterprise networks. Fortinet has not disclosed the preliminary discovery methodology however emphasizes that no buyer knowledge was breached throughout its investigation.
With the patch deadline looming, affected customers are racing to replace. Delays may expose delicate infrastructure to persistent threats, underscoring the necessity for proactive vulnerability administration in an period of zero-day exploits.
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