Patch immediately: CVE-2025-25257 PoC enables remote code execution on Fortinet FortiWeb
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-25257 | Critical Unauthenticated SQL Injection in Fortinet FortiWeb (CVE-2025-25257) CVE-2025-25257 is a critical (CVSS 9.8) SQL injection flaw (CWE-89) in Fortinet's FortiWeb web application firewall, affecting FortiWeb 7.6.0 through 7.6.3, 7.4.0 through 7.4.7, 7.2.0 through 7.2.10, and 7.0.0 through 7.0.10. It can be triggered by an unauthenticated remote attacker sending crafted HTTP or HTTPS requests to the appliance, with no user interaction or credentials required. Successful exploitation lets the attacker execute unauthorized SQL commands or code on the device, and publicly released proof-of-concept exploits chain the flaw to remote code execution on the appliance. Any organization running an affected FortiWeb version is exposed, and because FortiWeb appliances are typically deployed at the network edge to protect web applications, internet-facing deployments are the most likely targets. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-07-18 and carries a 99.8% EPSS score with two public PoC exploits, so defenders should treat it as actively exploited. Do: Upgrade FortiWeb to the latest patched build for your branch (7.0.x, 7.2.x, 7.4.x, or 7.6.x) per Fortinet's advisory, or apply the vendor's mitigations; federal agencies must follow the BOD 22-01 requirements tied to the KEV listing. Until patched, limit internet exposure of FortiWeb interfaces and review device and WAF logs for signs of exploitation, since public PoC exploits and the KEV addition on 2025-07-18 indicate active use. | 9.8 | 100% | KEV PoC ×2 |
| largetens of thousands of internet-exposed FortiWeb appliances (estimated) |
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PoC exploits released for critical Fortinet FortiWeb flaw allowing pre-auth RCE. Fortinet urges users to patch.
Proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits for CVE-2025-25257 in Fortinet FortiWeb (CVSS 9.8) enable pre-auth RCE on vulnerable servers.
The flaw is a SQL injection vulnerability in FortiWeb (CWE-89) that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute unauthorized SQL commands via crafted HTTP/HTTPS requests.
“An improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command (‘SQL Injection’) vulnerability [CWE-89] in FortiWeb may allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute unauthorized SQL code or commands via crafted HTTP or HTTPs requests.” reads the advisory.
Fortinet addressed the issue with the release of security patches in versions 7.6.4, 7.4.8, 7.2.11, and 7.0.11.
Kentaro Kawane from GMO Cybersecurity reported this vulnerability under responsible disclosure.
In a recent analysis, WatchTowr researchers conducted a binary diffing comparison of Fortinet’s httpsd service between versions 7.6.3 and 7.6.4. This approach allowed them to discover the specific changes introduced in the new version to address the issue, ultimately revealing the presence of a security patch.
Once discovered the unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability, researchers explored how to escalate it to remote code execution. They explored using MySQL’s INTO OUTFILE statement, which allows writing arbitrary files to the server’s filesystem, typically with limited mysql user privileges.
However, in this case, due to a misconfiguration, files could be written as root, enabling more impactful exploits. Their first attempt to achieve code execution by dropping a web shell into a CGI-enabled directory failed, as the files weren’t executable. They then pivoted to a more creative method.
They found an existing Python script (ml-draw.py) in the CGI directory, executed by Apache via /bin/python. Leveraging this, they used a lesser-known Python feature: .pth files. When placed in Python’s site-packages directory, .pth files can execute arbitrary code if they include a line like import os.
Despite challenges with file size limits and path constraints in INTO OUTFILE, they eventually bypassed them using a relative file path and by extracting payload chunks from the database itself. Ultimately, they successfully executed code by crafting and placing a .pth file that ran their desired Python code when the CGI script was triggered.
watchTowr researchers created a Detection Artifact Generator for FortiWeb CVE-2025-25257 that is available here.
Administrators are strongly advised to apply patches immediately due to the availability of public exploits. While there’s no evidence of active exploitation yet, this is expected to change soon.
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