CVE-2024-35280
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to perform reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks against FortiDeceptor recovery endpoints. Attackers can inject malicious scripts that execute in victims' browsers when they visit specially crafted URLs. All FortiDeceptor versions from 3.0 through 5.3.0 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Fortinet FortiDeceptor
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator session cookies, perform actions as authenticated users, redirect to malicious sites, or install malware on administrator systems.
Likely Case
Session hijacking leading to unauthorized access to the FortiDeceptor management interface, potentially compromising the deception environment.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper input validation and output encoding are implemented, though the vulnerability still exists.
🎯 Exploit Status
Reflected XSS typically requires social engineering to trick users into clicking malicious links; no authentication needed to trigger the vulnerability.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: FortiDeceptor 5.4.0 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://fortiguard.fortinet.com/psirt/FG-IR-24-010
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup current configuration. 2. Download FortiDeceptor 5.4.0 or later from Fortinet support portal. 3. Upload and install the firmware update via the web interface. 4. Reboot the system after installation completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
allDeploy a WAF with XSS protection rules to block malicious requests to recovery endpoints.
Network Segmentation
allRestrict access to FortiDeceptor management interface to trusted networks only.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate XSS impact
- Monitor and alert on suspicious requests to recovery endpoints
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check FortiDeceptor version via web interface: System > Dashboard > System Information. If version is between 3.0 and 5.3.0 inclusive, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
No CLI command; check via web interface at System > Dashboard > System InformationVerify Fix Applied:
After patching, verify version is 5.4.0 or later in System > Dashboard > System Information. Test recovery endpoints with safe XSS payloads to confirm sanitization.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- HTTP requests to recovery endpoints containing script tags or JavaScript code
- Unusual user-agent strings in recovery endpoint requests
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to /recovery/* endpoints with encoded script payloads
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by recovery endpoint access
SIEM Query:
source="fortideceptor" AND (uri_path="/recovery/*" AND (http_query CONTAINS "<script>" OR http_query CONTAINS "javascript:"))