Fortinet is once again dealing with a security vulnerability. A flaw in FortiSwitch allows attackers to change your passwords without authentication.
Security provider Fortinet reports, not for the first time this year, a critical vulnerability in one of its products. This time, it’s the FortiSwitch network switches that are affected. A vulnerability in the FortiSwitch GUI allows an external attacker to change administrator passwords.
The vulnerability, cataloged as CWE-620, is located in the set_password endpoint of the FortiSwitch web interface. This allows unauthorized users to modify passwords over the network without prior authentication. Fortinet has released updates to address the issue.
The flaw affects multiple versions of FortiSwitch. Fortinet shares in a bulletin a list of vulnerable versions and which patch resolves the problem. Users are urged to update to the listed versions or higher as soon as possible.
- FortiSwitch 7.6.0 – resolved in version 7.6.1
- FortiSwitch 7.4.0 through 7.4.4 – resolved in version 7.4.5
- FortiSwitch 7.2.0 through 7.2.8 – resolved in version 7.2.9
- FortiSwitch 7.0.0 through 7.0.10 – resolved in version 7.0.11
- FortiSwitch 6.4.0 through 6.4.14 – resolved in version 6.4.15
Temporary solution
If an update is temporarily not possible, temporary measures are available. Administrators can disable HTTP and HTTPS access to the management interface. Additionally, they can set which IP addresses are allowed access through the configuration of ‘trusted hosts’.
The vulnerability was discovered internally by a member of the FortiSwitch web development team. The first public report of it appeared on April 8. Fortinet has not reported any exploitation in the wild, but given the nature of the problem, swift action is strongly recommended.
Not for the first time
Fortinet is having a difficult start to 2025. Several products from the vendor have already been affected by critical vulnerabilities. Flaws in FortiOS and FortiProxy are being actively exploited, while FortiGate firewalls are plagued by new and old vulnerabilities.
Fortunately, Fortinet has always been quick to roll out a patch. It is then up to companies to implement it as quickly as possible.