Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
- EPSS is 0.45% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2018
CVE-2017-14187High confidence
Fortinet, Inc. FortiOS: Improper Privilege Management
Fortinet, Inc. · FortiOS
6.2MediumCVSS 3.0
Scheduled
Mitigation availableMedium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityMedium→Operational priority:Low, lowered one band.downgradedsince 25 Oct 2024
Compensating controls
- Apply the linked authoritative mitigation while planning the permanent fix.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Fortinet, Inc. FortiOS and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
Mitigation available01
What, why and how
A local privilege escalation and local code execution vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 5.6.0 to 5.6.2, 5.4.0 to 5.4.8, and 5.2 and below versions allows attacker to execute unauthorized binary program contained on an USB drive plugged into a FortiGate via linking the aforementioned binary program to a command that is allowed to be run by the fnsysctl CLI command.
What
A local privilege escalation and local code execution vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 5.6.0 to 5.6.2, 5.4.0 to 5.4.8, and 5.2 and below versions allows attacker to execute unauthorized binary program contained on an USB drive plugged into a FortiGate via linking the aforementioned binary program to a command that is allowed to be run by the fnsysctl CLI command.
Why
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
How
An attacker operating through physical access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.
What
A local privilege escalation and local code execution vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 5.6.0 to 5.6.2, 5.4.0 to 5.4.8, and 5.2 and below versions allows attacker to execute unauthorized binary program contained on an USB drive plugged into a FortiGate via linking the aforementioned binary program to a command that is allowed to be run by the fnsysctl CLI command.
Why
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
How
An attacker operating through physical access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- physical access → Improper Privilege Management → gain additional privileges
- Attack surface
- Physical
- Privileges required
- High: elevated access is required
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-269 ↗
CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVPhysicalAttack vector: The attacker needs physical access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Mitigation available
- Action
- Apply the mitigation in the linked authoritative guidance while planning the vendor's permanent fix.
- Workaround
- A mitigation or workaround reference is available from the source linked below; validate it against the affected product and version.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 24 May 2018 · Last source change 25 Oct 2024, 14:31 UTC · CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2017-5697
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2017-5697 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2017-5697"}
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added mitigation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-245; added remediation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-245.fortiguard.com ↗
- Before
- no authoritative guidance recorded
- After
- mitigation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-245 · remediation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-245
- Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Mitigation available.fortiguard.com ↗
- Before
- Awaiting fix
- After
- Mitigation available
- SeveritySeverity changed from Unknown to Medium.NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- Unknown
- After
- Medium
- CVSS scoreCVSS score changed from not recorded to 6.2 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- 6.2 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
CVE published
Mitigation reference recorded
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.