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Introduction:
The FortiBleed campaign represents one of the most extensive and industrialized credential harvesting operations ever documented against network security infrastructure. Between June 16–17, 2026, security researchers uncovered a massive dataset containing verified VPN and administrative credentials for approximately 73,000 to 75,000 Fortinet FortiGate firewalls and VPN gateways across 194 countries. The attackers systematically scanned 59.3 million hosts, fingerprinted roughly 437,000 FortiGate devices, and executed over 850 million SSH attempts alongside 2.1 billion web-panel login attempts—ultimately compromising 26,211 unique FortiGate IPs. This article provides a comprehensive technical guide to using the free FortiBleed Exposure Checker, understanding the attack chain, and implementing immediate remediation measures.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the FortiBleed attack chain, including the automated scanning, brute-force, and credential-harvesting methodologies employed by threat actors
- Learn how to use the SOCRadar FortiBleed Exposure Checker to verify whether your organization’s IP addresses or domains appear in the compromised dataset
- Master the step‑by‑step remediation process, including credential rotation, MFA enforcement, log analysis, and firewall hardening techniques
You Should Know:
- Understanding the FortiBleed Attack Chain: From Internet-Wide Scanning to Data Exfiltration
The FortiBleed operation is not a simple credential dump—it is an end‑to‑end automated compromise pipeline. SOCRadar’s threat research team reconstructed the full attack chain, revealing an industrialized operation:
| Stage | Result |
|–||
| `masscan` internet‑wide scan | 59.3M hosts scanned |
| FortiGate fingerprinting | ~437,000 FortiGate devices identified |
| SSH + web‑panel brute force | 856M + 2.1B credential combinations attempted |
| Compromised appliances | 26,211 unique FortiGate IPs breached |
| Passive traffic capture (diagnose sniffer via SSH) | 7,505 corporate networks sniffed |
| 21 protocol parsers | 105M+ credentials harvested |
| 10× RTX 4090 GPU cracking | Plaintext passwords recovered, ranked by company revenue |
| Secondary access (MSSQL / RD Web / Synology) | Exfiltration—including from a NATO‑aligned defense contractor |
Source: SOCRadar FortiBleed analysis
The attackers exploited a combination of known vulnerabilities, most notably CVE‑2022‑40684—a critical authentication bypass vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) affecting FortiOS versions 7.0.0–7.0.6 and 7.2.0–7.2.1, FortiProxy 7.0.0–7.0.6 and 7.2.0, and FortiSwitchManager 7.0.0 and 7.2.0. This vulnerability allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrative access via specially crafted HTTP/HTTPS requests.
The attackers maintained a self‑feeding system: once a device was compromised, they used it as a listening post to monitor traffic and collect additional credentials, which were then fed back into the scanner to compromise more devices. The password list was not random but carefully assembled from credentials leaked in earlier Fortinet incidents—meaning many targets had never changed their passwords after prior breaches.
2. Using the FortiBleed Exposure Checker: Step‑by‑Step Guide
SOCRadar has released a free FortiBleed Exposure Checker that allows any organization to instantly verify whether its IP addresses or domains appear in the FortiBleed dataset. The tool is available at: https://socradar.io/free-tools/fortibleed.
Step 1: Access the Tool
Navigate to the SOCRadar FortiBleed Exposure Checker page. The interface is optimized for Chrome, Edge, and Safari browsers.
Step 2: Enter Your Organization’s Information
Input your IP address block or domain name into the search field. The tool will query the FortiBleed dataset—one of the largest known collections of compromised Fortinet credentials.
Step 3: Review the Results
The tool scans not only for affected Fortinet devices but also for all other leaked credentials and exposed information associated with your organization. A domain appearing in the dataset does not automatically mean the organization has been breached—records reflect exposed or harvested credentials and configuration artifacts of varying age and validity, and some entries may be stale, duplicated, or tied to assets that have since been remediated.
Step 4: Interpret the Findings
If your organization appears in the dataset, treat your network perimeter as already compromised and act immediately. The dataset contains verified, working usernames and passwords, tested and confirmed by the attackers themselves.
Alternative Tool: Hudson Rock FortiBleed Lookup
Hudson Rock has also created a free FortiBleed lookup tool. Organizations in the dataset should immediately rotate passwords associated with Fortinet VPN and administrative interfaces, enforce MFA, examine gateway logs for suspicious activity, and monitor for exposed employee credentials.
3. Immediate Remediation: Rotating Credentials and Enforcing MFA
If your organization appears in the FortiBleed dataset, take the following immediate actions:
Step 1: Rotate All FortiGate Admin and VPN Credentials
Change all administrative passwords and VPN credentials immediately. Use strong, unique passwords that have never been used elsewhere.
Step 2: Enforce Multi‑Factor Authentication (MFA)
Enable MFA on all external access to Fortinet devices. This is critical because even if credentials are compromised, MFA prevents unauthorized access.
Step 3: Restrict Management Interfaces
Limit administrative access to trusted IP ranges only. Use firewall rules to restrict access to management interfaces from authorized networks.
Step 4: Review Gateway Logs
Examine FortiGate logs for suspicious login attempts, unusual administrative actions, and unauthorized configuration changes. Look for:
– Failed and successful login attempts from unexpected IP addresses
– Configuration changes made outside normal maintenance windows
– Unusual outbound connections from the firewall
Step 5: Remove Unused Accounts
Audit and remove any inactive or unused administrative accounts.
Step 6: Verify FortiOS Patching
Ensure all FortiOS devices are fully patched to the latest version. Vulnerable versions include FortiOS 7.0.0–7.0.6 and 7.2.0–7.2.1. Update to the latest patched release immediately.
- Advanced Investigation: Linux and Windows Commands for Log Analysis
After rotating credentials and enforcing MFA, conduct a thorough forensic investigation to determine whether unauthorized access occurred.
Linux Commands for Log Analysis (on FortiGate or syslog servers):
Search for failed login attempts in FortiGate logs
grep -i "failed login" /var/log/fortigate/.log
Search for successful logins from suspicious IPs
grep -i "login success" /var/log/fortigate/.log | grep -v "trusted_ip_range"
Extract all administrative login events with timestamps
awk '/admin.login/ {print $1, $2, $4, $NF}' /var/log/fortigate/.log
Identify configuration changes
grep -i "config change" /var/log/fortigate/.log
Check for VPN authentication events
grep -i "ssl-vpn.auth" /var/log/fortigate/.log
Count login attempts by source IP
grep -o "src=[0-9.]" /var/log/fortigate/.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -1r
Windows Commands (if using Windows‑based syslog or SIEM):
Search for FortiGate events in Windows Event Log
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Security" | Where-Object {$_.Message -like "FortiGate"} | Format-Table TimeCreated, Message -AutoSize
Extract login events from FortiGate logs stored on Windows
Select-String -Path "C:\Logs\fortigate.log" -Pattern "login|auth|failed" | Group-Object | Sort-Object Count -Descending
Check for unauthorized process execution
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Security" -FilterXPath "[System[EventID=4688]]" | Where-Object {$<em>.Message -like "cmd" -or $</em>.Message -like "powershell"}
5. Long‑Term Hardening: Preventing Future Fortinet Compromises
Beyond immediate remediation, implement the following long‑term security measures:
Step 1: Implement a Vulnerability Management Program
Regularly scan external‑facing assets for vulnerabilities. Use tools like SOCRadar’s Vulnerability Intelligence dashboard to gain threat landscape‑centric insights and prioritize patching. Monitor for critical vulnerabilities such as CVE‑2022‑40684 and the recently disclosed CVE‑2024‑55591.
Step 2: Enforce Password Policies
Implement and enforce strong password policies. Ensure that passwords are:
– At least 12 characters long
– Include uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters
– Not reused across devices or services
– Changed at regular intervals
Step 3: Deploy Continuous Threat Monitoring
Monitor dark web and infostealer logs for exposed employee credentials. SOCRadar’s free tools, including the Dark Web Report and External Threat Assessment, can surface leaked emails, passwords, session cookies, and internal documents tied to your domain.
Step 4: Restrict Administrative Access
Follow the principle of least privilege:
- Limit administrative access to specific IP addresses
- Use jump hosts or bastion hosts for administrative access
- Implement separate administrative networks
Step 5: Enable Comprehensive Logging
Ensure detailed logging is enabled on all Fortinet devices:
– Administrative login attempts (success and failure)
– Configuration changes
– VPN authentication events
– Traffic logs
– System events
Forward logs to a centralized SIEM for analysis and alerting.
Step 6: Regular Security Assessments
Conduct regular penetration testing and security assessments of your Fortinet infrastructure. Include both external and internal testing to identify misconfigurations and vulnerabilities.
What Undercode Say:
- Key Takeaway 1: The FortiBleed dataset is not a theoretical risk—it contains verified, working credentials for tens of thousands of Fortinet devices across 194 countries. Organizations listed in the dataset must assume their network perimeter is already compromised and act immediately.
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Key Takeaway 2: The attack chain reveals an industrialized operation far beyond a simple credential dump. The combination of internet‑wide scanning, automated brute‑force, passive traffic capture, and GPU‑based password cracking represents a sophisticated, resource‑intensive campaign targeting high‑value organizations, including government agencies, defense contractors, and Fortune 500 companies.
Analysis:
The FortiBleed incident underscores a fundamental shift in the threat landscape—attackers are no longer relying solely on zero‑day exploits but are systematically exploiting the failure of organizations to patch known vulnerabilities and enforce basic security hygiene. CVE‑2022‑40684 was patched in October 2022, yet thousands of devices remain vulnerable. The attackers’ use of a self‑feeding credential harvesting system—compromising one device, sniffing traffic for additional credentials, and using those credentials to compromise more devices—demonstrates the cascading risk of credential reuse and inadequate network segmentation. The inclusion of a NATO‑aligned defense contractor among the victims and the targeting of organizations by revenue suggest the attackers’ ambitions extend beyond financial gain to strategic intelligence collection. Organizations must move beyond reactive patching to proactive threat hunting, continuous monitoring of credential exposure, and implementation of defense‑in‑depth strategies that assume breach.
Prediction:
- +1 The FortiBleed exposure will accelerate adoption of MFA and zero‑trust architectures across enterprises, as the scale of the breach demonstrates that perimeter‑based security is no longer sufficient.
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-1 The attackers’ dataset, now publicly available, will be weaponized by additional threat actors, leading to a wave of follow‑on attacks against affected organizations over the coming months.
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-1 Regulatory bodies and cybersecurity frameworks will likely mandate stricter incident disclosure timelines and more rigorous vulnerability management requirements in response to the scale of this exposure.
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+1 The free exposure checkers released by SOCRadar and Hudson Rock will democratize threat intelligence, enabling smaller organizations to assess their risk without expensive commercial solutions.
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-1 The 105 million harvested credentials may be used in credential‑stuffing attacks against other platforms and services, compounding the impact beyond Fortinet devices.
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IT/Security Reporter URL:
Reported By: Harunseker Fortinet – Hackers Feeds
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