CVE-2024-27778VulnerabilityPublished 14 Jan 2025Updated 15 Jan 2026

CVE-2024-27778: Fortinet FortiSandbox · Execute unauthorized code or commands

Affects Fortinet FortiSandboxSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.3 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.3High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 47% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:X/RC:X

Base metrics

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Temporal metrics

Exploit Code Maturity: Proof-of-Concept

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).
Exploit Code Maturity: Proof-of-Concept: Proof-of-concept exploit code is available, or an attack demonstration is not practical for most systems. The code or technique is not functional in all situations and may require substantial modification by a skilled attacker.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 14 Jan 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Fortinet FortiSandbox	Affected =4.4.0 =4.2.1 =4.0.0 =3.2.0 =3.1.0 =3.0.5	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

1. Apply official Fortinet patches immediately once released for all affected FortiSandbox versions. 2. Restrict network access to FortiSandbox management interfaces using firewall rules and VPNs to limit exposure to trusted administrators only. 3. Enforce strong authentication and role-based access controls to minimize the number of accounts with read or higher privileges. 4. Monitor FortiSandbox logs and network traffic for unusual command execution patterns or unexpected requests indicative of exploitation attempts. 5. Implement network segmentation to isolate FortiSandbox from critical production systems to contain potential compromises. 6. Regularly audit and review user permissions on FortiSandbox to ensure least privilege principles. 7. Consider deploying additional endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to detect lateral movement or anomalous behavior stemming from FortiSandbox compromise. 8. Educate security teams about this vulnerability and update incident response plans to include potential FortiSandbox exploitation scenarios.

Description

CVE-2024-27778 is a high-severity vulnerability in multiple versions of Fortinet FortiSandbox that allows an authenticated attacker with at least read-only access to execute unauthorized OS commands. The flaw stems from improper neutralization of special elements in OS command inputs, enabling command injection via crafted requests without requiring user interaction. Exploitation can lead to full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. No known exploits are currently in the wild, but the vulnerability affects widely deployed FortiSandbox versions across several major releases. European organizations using FortiSandbox for advanced threat detection and sandboxing are at risk, especially those in critical infrastructure and large enterprises. Mitigation requires applying vendor patches once available, restricting access to FortiSandbox interfaces, and monitoring for suspicious command execution patterns. Countries with significant Fortinet market presence and critical infrastructure reliance on FortiSandbox, such as Germany, France, the UK, and the Netherlands, are most likely to be impacted. Given the ease of exploitation with low privileges and the broad impact, this vulnerability is rated high severity and demands prompt attention from defenders.

Impact

For European organizations, exploitation of CVE-2024-27778 could lead to severe operational disruptions and data breaches. FortiSandbox is often deployed in security operations centers to analyze suspicious files and detect advanced threats; compromise of this system undermines the entire security posture. Attackers could execute arbitrary commands to disable or manipulate sandbox analyses, hide malware, or gain a foothold for lateral movement. This could result in undetected malware infections, data exfiltration, or ransomware deployment. Critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, finance, healthcare, and government agencies in Europe rely on Fortinet products, increasing the potential impact. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged to disrupt incident response capabilities, delaying detection and remediation of other attacks. The high severity and network accessibility mean that even low-privileged insiders or compromised accounts could exploit this flaw, increasing risk exposure.

Summary

CVE-2024-27778 is a command injection vulnerability affecting Fortinet FortiSandbox versions 3.0.5 through 4.4.4. The root cause is improper neutralization of special elements in OS command inputs (CWE-78), which allows an attacker with at least read-only authenticated access to execute arbitrary OS commands. This vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited remotely over the network. The attacker can craft malicious requests that bypass input validation, leading to unauthorized command execution with the privileges of the FortiSandbox service. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability by potentially allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code, manipulate sandbox analysis results, disrupt service, or pivot within the network. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.3, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, low privileges required, and no user interaction. Although no public exploits are known yet, the vulnerability is critical due to the sensitive role FortiSandbox plays in malware detection and network security. FortiSandbox is widely used in enterprise and government environments for advanced threat detection, making this vulnerability a significant risk if exploited.

References

fortiguard.fortinet.com/psirt/FG-IR-24-061 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 21 Jan 2026, 20:33 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats