Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Fortinet FortiNAC had a permissions flaw that could let someone with existing local, low-level access reach sensitive system data and gain higher privileges. The risk is meaningful because successful exploitation could affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the FortiNAC system.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority remediation item for FortiNAC environments, especially where many administrators or operators have local access. It is not supported as actively exploited by the provided evidence, but impact is high if abused.
Technical view
CVE-2021-43065 is an incorrect permission assignment for a critical resource in FortiNAC 9.2.0, 9.1.3 and below, and 8.8.9 and below. CVSS 3.1 is 7.8 with local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and high CIA impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running the listed FortiNAC versions. The attack vector is local and requires existing low-privileged access, so internet exposure alone is not the main indicator of risk.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The CVSS vector includes functional exploit maturity, but the bundle does not provide public exploit details or evidence of in-the-wild use.
Researcher notes
The bundle does not name a CWE or describe the specific protected resource. Research should stay focused on permission boundaries, local account exposure, and vendor advisory details without assuming remote exploitability or unlisted affected versions.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory FortiNAC instances and record exact running versions.
- Prioritize affected 9.2.0, 9.1.3 and below, and 8.8.9 and below systems.
- Check Fortinet FG-IR-21-178 for vendor-approved fixed versions or mitigations.
- Restrict local and low-privileged access to FortiNAC systems where operationally possible.
- Monitor FortiNAC host access for unexpected privilege changes or sensitive data access.
Validation and detection
- Confirm FortiNAC version against the affected version list.
- Review local account access and remove unnecessary low-privileged users.
- Check FortiGuard advisory FG-IR-21-178 for remediation status.
- Look for unauthorized access to sensitive FortiNAC system data.
- Document whether each FortiNAC instance is fixed, mitigated, or still exposed.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2021-43065 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:X/RC:C
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:X/RC:C1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:X/RC:C
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-21-178CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-8wx4-g5p9-348hCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.