# CVE-2023-26208: Denial of service in FortiAuthenticator

> Remote attackers can exhaust CPU and memory resources by sending numerous HTTP requests to the login form, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** Low 3.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L/E:P/RL:X/RC:X`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Mar 2023
- **Updated:** 22 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-33jw-84xq-w6fj

## What is CVE-2023-26208?

CVE-2023-26208 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, published on 9 Mar 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts vulnerability [CWE-307] in Fortinet FortiAuthenticator 6.4.x and before allows  a remote unauthenticated attacker to partially exhaust CPU and memory via sending numerous HTTP requests to the login form.

Weakness: CWE-307 (Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-26208?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Fortinet Fortiauthenticator.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-26208?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-26208 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-26208 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-26208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- https://github.com/chessredoffsec/CVE-2023-26208 (github_poc): https://github.com/chessredoffsec/CVE-2023-26208

## Other vulnerabilities in Fortinet FortiAuthenticator

- [CVE-2026-44277](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44277/): Missing authorization in FortiAuthenticator (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2013-6990](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6990/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2021-43067](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43067/): Information disclosure in Fortinet FortiAuthenticator (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2021-22124](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22124/): Denial of service in Fortinet FortiSandbox, FortiAuthenticator (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-1455](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1455/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-26208 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-26208 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, published on 9 Mar 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-26208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fortinet FortiAuthenticator. 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-2023-26208/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-26208/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-26208
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-26208
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-26208

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-26208/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.