CVE-2024-52962: Fortinet FortiManager Log Injection Flaw

CVE-2024-52962 Overview

CVE-2024-52962 is an Improper Output Neutralization for Logs vulnerability [CWE-117] affecting Fortinet FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager. The flaw allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to pollute log entries by sending crafted login requests. Affected products include FortiAnalyzer versions 7.6.1 and below, 7.4.5 and below, 7.2.8 and below, and 7.0.13 and below, as well as FortiManager versions 7.6.1 and below, 7.4.5 and below, 7.2.8 and below, and 7.0.12 and below. The vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or disrupt availability, but it undermines the integrity of logs used for monitoring and forensic analysis.

Critical Impact
Attackers can inject arbitrary content into authentication logs, degrading the reliability of incident response and audit trails on centralized Fortinet management platforms.

Affected Products

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer versions 7.0.0 through 7.0.13, 7.2.0 through 7.2.8, 7.4.0 through 7.4.5, and 7.6.0 through 7.6.1
Fortinet FortiManager versions 7.0.0 through 7.0.12, 7.2.0 through 7.2.8, 7.4.0 through 7.4.5, and 7.6.0 through 7.6.1
Centralized log aggregation and device management deployments relying on these versions

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-08 - CVE-2024-52962 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-52962

Vulnerability Analysis

FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager record authentication activity in system logs for operational visibility and compliance. The affected versions fail to properly neutralize untrusted input included in log records during login processing. An attacker can submit crafted login requests whose fields are written verbatim into the log stream. The result is log pollution: injected characters, forged entries, or misleading content that distorts the record of real events.

Because these products aggregate logs from downstream Fortinet appliances, any tampering of their own authentication logs can mislead security operations teams during triage and investigation. The weakness is categorized under CWE-117, which covers insufficient sanitization of data written to logs.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of attacker-controlled input before it is written to log files. Login request fields are not sanitized for control characters, newline sequences, or formatting tokens. This allows attackers to inject synthetic log lines or truncate legitimate entries without authentication.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network access to the FortiAnalyzer or FortiManager management interface. No credentials or user interaction are needed. An attacker sends crafted login requests containing malicious payloads in authentication fields. The management service writes those payloads to the log file without encoding, producing manipulated log entries.

See the Fortinet Security Advisory FG-IR-24-453 for vendor-published technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-52962

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected newline, carriage return, or non-printable characters within authentication log records on FortiAnalyzer or FortiManager
Duplicated or misaligned log entries that break the expected field structure of login events
High volumes of failed or malformed login attempts from a single source address targeting the management interface

Detection Strategies

Parse FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager authentication logs for embedded CRLF sequences or injected log-format tokens
Compare log entries received from upstream devices against the local log format to identify inconsistencies introduced through the management interface
Alert on unauthenticated connection bursts to the login endpoint of FortiAnalyzer or FortiManager

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager system logs to an external SIEM or data lake where tamper evidence can be preserved
Enable integrity controls or write-once storage for authentication logs on management appliances
Review access control lists restricting which networks can reach FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager administrative services

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-52962

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager to fixed versions as specified in Fortinet advisory FG-IR-24-453
Restrict management interface exposure to trusted administrative networks only
Audit existing authentication logs for signs of injected or malformed entries before relying on them for investigations

Patch Information

Fortinet has released fixed builds for all supported branches. Administrators should consult the Fortinet Security Advisory FG-IR-24-453 for the exact remediated versions of FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager and apply the upgrade path appropriate for their deployment.

Workarounds

Limit network reachability of the FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager login services using firewall policies and trusted-host configurations
Place the management interfaces behind a VPN or jump host so unauthenticated internet users cannot reach the login endpoint
Enable local-in policies on FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer to drop traffic from untrusted sources to administrative ports

bash

# Example trusted host restriction on FortiManager / FortiAnalyzer administrators
config system admin user
  edit "admin"
    set trusthost1 10.0.0.0 255.255.255.0
    set trusthost2 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0
  next
end