Threat actor shared a list of 49,577 IPs vulnerable Fortinet VPNs
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2018-13379 | Unauthenticated Path Traversal in Fortinet FortiOS SSL VPN CVE-2018-13379 is a path traversal flaw (CWE-22) in the Fortinet FortiOS SSL VPN web portal that allows an unauthenticated attacker to download FortiOS system files via specially crafted HTTP resource requests. By traversing directories through crafted requests to the exposed web portal, the attacker can retrieve sensitive files, a technique publicly documented as yielding the SSL VPN session file containing usernames and passwords in plaintext. Any organization running the SSL VPN web portal on a FortiGate appliance is affected, and risk is highest where the portal is directly reachable from the internet. The flaw is confirmed in the wild: it was added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns it a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days. No public PoC is listed in the provided data, but credential theft tied to this bug has been widely reused by threat actors. Do: Apply the patched FortiOS release per Fortinet's vendor advisory immediately, as this is a CISA KEV required action; if the fixed version is not known from this data, follow Fortinet's FG-IR-18-384 advisory for the correct upgrade path. Rotate SSL VPN credentials and review VPN access logs for path-traversal requests, since successful exploitation exposes plaintext session credentials, and restrict SSL VPN portal exposure to trusted sources where possible. | 9.8 | 100% | KEV ransomware |
| mass≈500,000 internet-exposed FortiOS SSL VPN portals (Fortinet cited ~480,000 affected devices) | |
| CVE-2019-11510 | Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read in Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure VPN Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure, an enterprise SSL VPN appliance, contains an arbitrary file read vulnerability (CWE-22, path traversal) that requires no authentication. An unauthenticated remote attacker with network access to the appliance over HTTPS can send a specially crafted URI containing traversal sequences to read arbitrary files from the device. The attacker gains access to sensitive appliance files, potentially including configuration or credential material useful for further compromise, and CISA records known ransomware use of this flaw. Any organization running Pulse Connect Secure, especially gateways exposed to the internet for remote access, is affected. Exploitation is established: CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, and no public PoC is known. Do: Apply updates per Ivanti's instructions, the required action in the CISA KEV entry, prioritizing internet-facing Pulse Connect Secure gateways, and consult the vendor advisory for the applicable fixed release since no version range is provided here. Where patching is not immediate, restrict HTTPS access to the appliance and hunt for signs of exploitation (unexpected file reads, anomalous VPN logins or sessions, and follow-on ransomware activity), as CISA reports known ransomware use. | 10.0 | 100% | KEV ransomware PoC ×2 |
| largeTens of thousands of internet-exposed gateways (order of 10,000-100,000 systems; each typically serves hundreds of VPN users, so potentially millions of users) | |
| CVE-2020-1472 | Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation (Zerologon) in Microsoft Netlogon Domain Controllers CVE-2020-1472, widely known as "Zerologon," is an elevation-of-privilege flaw in how the Netlogon secure channel is established over the Netlogon Remote Protocol (MS-NRPC) on Microsoft domain controllers. An unauthenticated attacker with network reachability to a domain controller sends specially crafted Netlogon messages to establish a vulnerable secure channel and then runs a specially crafted application on the network to obtain domain administrator access. Successful exploitation yields domain administrator privileges, effectively full compromise of the Active Directory environment, and the flaw is known to be used in ransomware operations. Any organization running affected Windows Server versions (2008 through 20H2) as domain controllers is exposed, along with environments using Netlogon implementations from Samba and distributions or products from Fedora, openSUSE, Canonical (Ubuntu), Debian, Synology, and Oracle. Exploitation is highly active: a public Zerologon PoC/exploit is available, the flaw is on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03, with known ransomware use), and EPSS estimates a 99.4% probability of exploitation within 30 days. Do: Apply the vendor updates on all domain controllers and other affected systems immediately, following Microsoft's two-phase Netlogon secure channel guidance (the enforcement phase of the phased rollout began in Q1 2021). Audit Netlogon secure-channel connections and event logs for clients still using vulnerable connections before enabling full enforcement, and install updated packages for Samba and other Netlogon implementations from Fedora, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, Synology, and Oracle. Given known ransomware use, prioritize patching any domain controller reachable from user networks, VPNs, or the internet. | 5.5 | 99% | KEV ransomware PoC |
| massmillions of domain controllers worldwide (essentially every Active Directory domain), with hundreds of thousands of domain controllers/RPC endpoints… |
Full article422 words · extracted from securityaffairs.com · click to collapse
Pierluigi Paganini
November 22, 2020

A threat actor has published online a list of one-line exploits to steal VPN credentials from over 49,000 vulnerable Fortinet VPNs.
A threat actor, who goes online with the moniker “pumpedkicks,” has leaked online a list of exploits that could be exploited to steal VPN credentials from almost 50,000 Fortinet VPN devices.
Researchers from Bank Security first reported the availability of the list of 49,577 IPs vulnerable to Fortinet SSL VPN CVE-2018-13379.
After a nslookup on all IPs, I found that among the victims there are some Banks, many .gov domains and thousands of companies around the world. https://t.co/F4o9xzjGJ4
— Bank Security (@Bank_Security) November 20, 2020
The list includes devices belonging to big enterprises, financial institutions, and government organizations across the world.

The Fortinet VPN devices included in the list are vulnerable to the CVE-2018-13379, which is a path traversal vulnerability in the FortiOS SSL VPN web portal that could be exploited by an unauthenticated attacker to download FortiOS system files, to upload malicious files on unpatched systems, and take over Fortinet VPN servers.
The popular researcher AX Sharma, who analyzed the exploit shared by the threat actor, explained that it could allow attackers to access the sslvpn_websession files from FortiNet VPNs to steal login credentials.
Upon obtaining the stolen credentials, attackers could use them to gain access to the target networks and carry out multiple malicious operations, such as manually delivering malware and ransomware.
Since August 2019, the popular cybersecurity expert Kevin Beaumont has reported that threat actors were attempting to exploit the CVE-2018-13379 in the FortiOS SSL VPN web portal and CVE-2019-11510 flaw in Pulse Connect Secure.
CISA and FBI have recently observed attacks carried out by APT actors that combined two the CVE-2018-13379 and CVE-2020-1472 flaws.
Government experts explained that attackers are combining these two flaws to hijack Fortinet servers and use them as an entry point in government networks, then take over internal networks using the Zerologon flaw to compromise all Active Directory (AD) identity services.
According to Ax Sharma, the list of vulnerable Fortinet VPNs includes over four dozen IP belonging to major banking, finance, and governmental organizations.
The most worrisome aspect of this discovery is that despite the CVE-2018-13379 is a well-know vulnerabilty, many organizazion have yet to fix it more than 2 years after its public disclosure.
This means that the affected organizations are failing to implement an efficient patch management process.
| [adrotate banner=”9″] | [adrotate banner=”12″] |
(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Fortinet VPNs)
[adrotate banner=”5″]
[adrotate banner=”13″]
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://securityaffairs.com/111309/hacking/leak-vulnerable-fortinet-vpns.html