Fortinet disclosed a FortiOS operating system vulnerability, CVE-2025-24477, which has a CVSS score of 4.0. This vulnerability enables an authorized attacker to execute arbitrary code or commands to escalate privileges. Review the details of this Cybersecurity Threat Advisory to protect your environment from this vulnerability.
What is the threat?
This vulnerability is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, classified under CWE-122 and it affects the cw_stad daemon. It allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code or commands through specially crafted requests. The vulnerability impacts specific versions of FortiOS, posing a risk of privilege escalation and unauthorized access to affected systems.
Why is it noteworthy?
This vulnerability has a CVSSv3 score of 4.0, this makes this vulnerability classified as medium severity. Its potential impact is significant as the ability for an attacker to escalate privileges through arbitrary code execution is a critical concern. It can lead to unauthorized access or control over affected systems, compromising network security.
What is the exposure or risk?
The vulnerability affects FortiOS versions 7.6.0 through 7.6.1, 7.4.0 through 7.4.7, and 7.2.4 through 7.2.11. A successful exploitation can result in unauthorized access and control over the system, resulting in data theft, system compromise, or further infiltration. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for organizations using the affected FortiWiFi models, as they are at risk of exploitation if not updated.
What are the recommendations?
Barracuda recommends the following actions to protect against this vulnerability:
- Update impacted FortiOS to version 7.6.3 or above, version 7.4.8 or above, and 7.2.12 or above.
- Check FortiWiFi models if they are configured as wireless clients. Apply updates to the following are affected models:
- FWF_80F_2R_3G4G_DSL
- FWF_80F_2R, FWF_81F_2R_3G4G_DSL
- FWF_81F_2R_3G4G_POE, FWF_81F_2R
- FWF_81F_2R_POE
- FWF_90G_2R, FWF_91G_2R
How can Barracuda protect you against this threat?
Barracuda’s Managed Vulnerability Security service can proactively detect vulnerable FortiOS installations across your infrastructure before an exploitation takes place. This fully managed service is designed to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities across servers, endpoints, network devices, and cloud infrastructure.
When combined with Barracuda Managed XDR, it enables a defense-in-depth strategy, closing security gaps while also identifying suspicious login events and lateral movement that might indicate exploitation attempts. This unified approach—integrating vulnerability scanning with XDR’s detection engine—can help organizations stay ahead of new threats and strengthen their overall security posture against vulnerabilities like this.
References
For more in-depth information about the recommendations, please visit the following links:
- https://cybersecuritynews.com/fortios-buffer-overflow-vulnerability/
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-24477
If you have any questions about this Cybersecurity Threat Advisory, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Barracuda Managed XDR’s Security Operations Center.
This post originally appeared on Smarter MSP.