Threat Intelligence / CVE / CVE-2022-40684

CVE-2022-40684 — Fortinet FortiOS, FortiProxy, FortiSwitchManager

CISA KEVRansomware

CVSS v3.1 9.8 (CRITICAL) · EPSS 99.9% (higher than 99.9% of all scored CVEs) · Priority 10/10 · Published 2022-10-18

As of 2026-01-12, CVE-2022-40684 is a CRITICAL-severity vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS, FortiProxy, FortiSwitchManager, CVSS v3.1 9.8, EPSS 99.9% (99.9th percentile). It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-10-11), with a US federal remediation deadline of 2022-11-01, and CISA links it to known ransomware campaigns. Threadlinqs Intelligence links 7 tracked threat campaigns to CVE-2022-40684, most recently “Cyble H1 2026 Threat Actor Landscape: 261 Tracked Groups, Five Most Active Actors Profiled”.

Last updated: 2026-01-12

What is CVE-2022-40684?

An authentication bypass using an alternate path or channel [CWE-288] in Fortinet FortiOS version 7.2.0 through 7.2.1 and 7.0.0 through 7.0.6, FortiProxy version 7.2.0 and version 7.0.0 through 7.0.6 and FortiSwitchManager version 7.2.0 and 7.0.0 allows an unauthenticated atttacker to perform operations on the administrative interface via specially crafted HTTP or HTTPS requests.

The record classifies CVE-2022-40684 under weakness class CWE-287. Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw is reachable remotely over the network, needs no prior authentication, needs no user interaction, and has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability. 1 affected-product entry is recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 1425 days ago.

Severity and exploitation probability

CVSS v3.1 base score: 9.8 — CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:U/RC:C
EPSS (FIRST): 99.9% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.9% of all scored CVEs
CISA KEV: Listed since 2022-10-11, federal remediation deadline 2022-11-01 — used in known ransomware campaigns
Threadlinqs priority: 10/10 — CISA lists it as used in ransomware, which Threadlinqs scores at the maximum
Published: 2022-10-18, last modified 2026-01-12

Is CVE-2022-40684 being exploited?

CISA added CVE-2022-40684 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-10-11, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2022-11-01 under BOD 22-01. CISA flags the vulnerability as one used in known ransomware campaigns. Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2022-40684 is publicly available. 11 public proof-of-concept repositories are tracked for this identifier. A ProjectDiscovery Nuclei detection template exists (http/cves/2022/CVE-2022-40684.yaml). It currently carries a trending score of 45 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.

horizon3ai/CVE-2022-40684 (github)
carlosevieira/CVE-2022-40684 (github)
arsolutioner/fortigate-belsen-leak (github)
Filiplain/Fortinet-PoC-Auth-Bypass (github)
kljunowsky/CVE-2022-40684-POC (github)
TaroballzChen/CVE-2022-40684-metasploit-scanner (github)
hughink/CVE-2022-40684 (github)
qingsiweisan/CVE-2022-40684 (github)

Affected products and versions

Fortinet: FortiOS, FortiProxy, FortiSwitchManager

How to fix CVE-2022-40684

Vendor advisory: https://fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-22-377. Because CVE-2022-40684 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2022-11-01. Apply the vendor fix referenced above to every affected product listed in this record, then confirm the running version against the vendor advisory.

Threat activity tracking CVE-2022-40684

7 tracked threats in the Threadlinqs corpus reference CVE-2022-40684, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

Cyble H1 2026 Threat Actor Landscape: 261 Tracked Groups, Five Most Active Actors Profiled — HIGH · 2026-07-27
FortiBleed: Mass Credential Compromise Campaign Against Internet-Exposed Fortinet FortiGate Devices (86,644 Devices, 194 Countries) — CRITICAL · 2026-07-11
StrikeShark Campaign: SharkLoader Dropper Targets Governments and Software Developers via N-Day Exploits and Trojanized Installers to Deploy Cobalt Strike — HIGH · 2026-07-11
SharkLoader Malware Campaign Uses Fake Cisco AnyConnect and Google Update Installers to Deploy Cobalt Strike — HIGH · 2026-07-03
FortiBleed Credential Theft Campaign: FortigateSniffer Tool Deployed Against 430,000+ FortiGate Firewalls, Linked to INC Ransom and Lynx Ransomware — CRITICAL · 2026-07-01
SharkLoader Malware Deploys Cobalt Strike Beacon via DLL Side-Loading in StrikeShark Campaign — HIGH · 2026-06-27
FortiBleed Campaign: Mass FortiGate SSL VPN / Admin Credential Exposure Affecting ~73,932 Fortinet Firewalls Across 194 Countries — CRITICAL · 2026-06-13

Sources

Enriched from CVE.org, NVD, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV, GitHub Security Advisories, public proof-of-concept repositories, ProjectDiscovery Nuclei. Last verified by Threadlinqs on 2026-07-13. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

Other references

Full detection coverage & IOCs for threats exploiting CVE-2022-40684 are available via the Threadlinqs MCP server (Purple tier). View plans →

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