What is CVE-2022-42475?
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability [CWE-122] in FortiOS SSL-VPN 7.2.0 through 7.2.2, 7.0.0 through 7.0.8, 6.4.0 through 6.4.10, 6.2.0 through 6.2.11, 6.0.15 and earlier and FortiProxy SSL-VPN 7.2.0 through 7.2.1, 7.0.7 and earlier may allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code or commands via specifically crafted requests.
The record classifies CVE-2022-42475 under weakness classes CWE-197, CWE-787. 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. 23 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 1395 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 - EPSS (FIRST)
- 99.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.9% of all scored CVEs
- CISA KEV
- Listed since 2022-12-13, federal remediation deadline 2023-01-03 — used in known ransomware campaigns
- Threadlinqs priority
- 10/10 — CISA lists it as used in ransomware, which Threadlinqs scores at the maximum
- Published
- 2023-01-02, last modified 2025-10-21
Is CVE-2022-42475 being exploited?
CISA added CVE-2022-42475 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-12-13, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2023-01-03 under BOD 22-01. CISA flags the vulnerability as one used in known ransomware campaigns. Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2022-42475 is publicly available. 10 public proof-of-concept repositories are tracked for this identifier. It currently carries a trending score of 53 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.
- scrt/cve-2022-42475 (github)
- 0xhaggis/CVE-2022-42475 (github)
- P4x1s/CVE-2022-42475-RCE-POC (github)
- Amir-hy/cve-2022-42475 (github)
- bryanster/ioc-cve-2022-42475 (github)
- Mustafa1986/cve-2022-42475-Fortinet (github)
- uLl0a/cve-2022-42475-poc (github)
- natceil/cve-2022-42475 (github)
Affected products and versions
- Fortinet: Fortios, Fortiproxy, Fim-7901e, Fim-7904e, Fim-7910e, Fim-7920e, Fim-7921f, Fim-7941f, Fortigate-6300f, Fortigate-6300f-dc, Fortigate-6500f, Fortigate-6500f-dc, Fortigate-6501f, Fortigate-6501f-dc, Fortigate-6601f, Fortigate-6601f-dc, Fortigate-7030e, Fortigate-7040e, Fortigate-7060e, Fortigate-7121f, Fpm-7620e, Fpm-7620f, Fpm-7630e
How to fix CVE-2022-42475
The record marks a vendor fix as available for CVE-2022-42475. Vendor advisory: https://fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-22-398. Because CVE-2022-42475 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2023-01-03. 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-2022-42475
5 tracked threats in the Threadlinqs corpus reference CVE-2022-42475, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.
- Operation Escaneo: MexicanMafia (PanchoVilla) Intrusion Campaign Against Mexican Government Agencies and Latin American Financial Institutions — HIGH · 2026-10-23
- CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog: Fortinet FortiOS Information Disclosure (CVE-2025-68686) and Arista VeloCloud Orchestrator OS Command Injection (CVE-2026-16812) — CRITICAL · 2026-07-27
- FortiBleed: Mass Credential Compromise Campaign Against Internet-Exposed Fortinet FortiGate Devices (86,644 Devices, 194 Countries) — CRITICAL · 2026-07-11
- FortiBleed Credential Theft Campaign Linked to INC and Lynx Ransomware Operations — CRITICAL · 2026-07-05
- UNC3886 Zero-Day Rootkit Campaign Targeting Singaporean Telecommunications — ORB Network C2, Fortinet/VMware Exploitation, Covert Infrastructure Persistence — CRITICAL · 2026-03-13
Sources
Enriched from CVE.org, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV, GitHub Security Advisories, public proof-of-concept repositories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on .