# CVE-2020-12816: Cross-site scripting in Fortinet FortiNAC

> Remote authenticated attackers can inject malicious scripts via UserID fields in FortiNAC, potentially leading to session hijacking or data theft.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 24 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 25 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rjvx-q2j5-w235

## What is CVE-2020-12816?

CVE-2020-12816 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Fortinet FortiNAC, published on 24 Sep 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An improper neutralization of input vulnerability in FortiNAC before 8.7.2 may allow a remote authenticated attacker to perform a stored cross site scripting attack (XSS) via the UserID of Admin Users.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-12816?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Fortinet Fortinac.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-12816?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-12816 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-12816 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-12816 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fortinet FortiNAC

- [CVE-2022-39952](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-39952/): Path traversal in FortiNAC (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-33299](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-33299/): Deserialization in FortiNAC (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2022-26117](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-26117/): Hardcoded credentials in Fortinet FortiNAC (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-38375](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-38375/): Missing authorization in FortiNAC (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2022-39953](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-39953/): Privilege escalation in FortiNAC (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-12816 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-12816 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Fortinet FortiNAC, published on 24 Sep 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-12816 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fortinet FortiNAC. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12816/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12816/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-12816
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-12816
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-12816

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12816/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.