Patch Immediately Cve 2025 25257 Poc
Patch Now: Critical Fortinet FortiWeb Vulnerability (CVE-2025-25257) Enables Remote Code Execution
TL;DR
A critical SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2025-25257) in Fortinet FortiWeb allows unauthenticated attackers to execute remote code (RCE). Fortinet has released patches for versions 7.6.4, 7.4.8, 7.2.11, and 7.0.11. Administrators are urged to apply these patches immediately to prevent potential exploitation.
Main Content
Critical Vulnerability in Fortinet FortiWeb Allows Pre-Auth RCE
Proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits have been released for a critical vulnerability in Fortinet FortiWeb, identified as CVE-2025-25257 (CVSS 9.8). This flaw enables pre-authenticated remote code execution (RCE) on vulnerable servers. The issue stems from a SQL injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute unauthorized SQL commands via crafted HTTP/HTTPS requests.
Vulnerability Details
According to the advisory:
“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.”
Patches Released
Fortinet has addressed this issue with the release of security patches in the following versions:
- 7.6.4
- 7.4.8
- 7.2.11
- 7.0.11
Kentaro Kawane from GMO Cybersecurity reported this vulnerability under responsible disclosure 1.
Research Findings
In a recent analysis by WatchTowr researchers, a binary diffing comparison of Fortinet’s httpsd service between versions 7.6.3 and 7.6.4 was conducted. This approach revealed the specific changes introduced in the new version to address the issue, ultimately confirming the presence of a security patch.
Exploitation Method
Once the unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability was discovered, researchers explored how to escalate it to remote code execution. They utilized MySQL’s INTO OUTFILE statement, which allows writing arbitrary files to the server’s filesystem, typically with limited mysql user privileges. However, due to a misconfiguration, files could be written as root, enabling more impactful exploits.
The researchers’ 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 involving an existing Python script (ml-draw.py) in the CGI directory, executed by Apache via /bin/python.
Leveraging a lesser-known Python feature, .pth files, they placed these files 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, the researchers 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.
Detection Artifact Generator
WatchTowr researchers have created a Detection Artifact Generator for FortiWeb CVE-2025-25257, which is available on their GitHub repository.
Urgent Call to Action
Administrators are strongly advised to apply the patches immediately due to the availability of public exploits. While there is no evidence of active exploitation yet, this is expected to change soon.
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For more details, visit the full article: source
Conclusion
The critical vulnerability in Fortinet FortiWeb underscores the importance of timely patching and vigilant security practices. Administrators must act swiftly to apply the necessary patches and protect their systems from potential exploitation.
Additional Resources
For further insights, check:
References
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GMO Cybersecurity (2025). “Vulnerability Report”. GMO Cybersecurity. Retrieved 2025-07-13. ↩︎