CVE-2025-64446

CVE-2025-64446 is a relative path traversal vulnerability (CWE-23) in Fortinet's FortiWeb web application firewall that can be triggered by unauthenticated attackers sending crafted HTTP or HTTPS requests to the appliance. Because the flaw occurs in the management plane, an attacker who successfully exploits it gains the ability to execute administrative commands on the device without credentials — effectively an authentication bypass, and news reporting indicates attackers have used it to create rogue admin accounts. Any organization running a FortiWeb release in the affected ranges (7.0.0 through 8.0.1 across the 7.0, 7.2, 7.4, 7.6, and 8.0 branches) is exposed, especially if the management interface is reachable from the internet. The vulnerability is being actively exploited: a public PoC/exploit exists (watchTowr), it carries a critical CVSS 9.8 score, a very high EPSS of 91.8% (100th percentile), and CISA added it to the KEV catalog on 2025-11-14 with a short remediation deadline for federal agencies.

What to do: Upgrade FortiWeb immediately to a fixed release per Fortinet's advisory — every branch listed in the affected ranges (7.0.x through 8.0.x) has a patched build, so move beyond the listed versions on your branch. Until patched, restrict HTTP/HTTPS access to the FortiWeb management interface to trusted networks/IPs and review the device for unexpected administrator accounts and unfamiliar activity, since reported attacks created rogue admin users. Federal agencies must apply vendor mitigations or discontinue use per BOD 22-01 under the KEV deadline; note the separately tracked FortiWeb CVE-2025-58034 is also being exploited and should be included in the same patch cycle.