L Group lists victim via FortiBleed flaw

7 August 2026 elevated threat

Ransomware group L Group posted a victim whose FortiOS SSL-VPN credentials were exposed through the 2022 FortiBleed vulnerability.

Ransomware.live logged a new victim entry attributed to the L Group ransomware operation. The listing states that the victim's FortiOS SSL-VPN credentials were exposed via CVE-2022-40684 (FortiBleed), an authentication bypass vulnerability in Fortinet's FortiOS and FortiProxy products first disclosed in 2022. This suggests the initial access vector for the intrusion may have relied on unpatched or long-exposed Fortinet infrastructure.

No additional technical detail, ransom note content, or data sample information is provided in the source beyond the leak site listing itself. The disclosure follows the pattern typical of ransomware extortion sites, where victim organizations are named to pressure payment. Given the age of the underlying CVE, this incident likely reflects continued exploitation of unpatched Fortinet devices rather than a novel technique.

Mentioned in this report

Vulnerabilities CVE-2022-40684KEV

Threat actors L Group

Malware L Group

Detection guidance

FortiOS SSL-VPN Authentication Bypass Attempt

ATT&CK T1190

Detects HTTP requests to FortiOS SSL-VPN endpoints with malformed or missing authentication parameters, characteristic of CVE-2022-40684 exploitation attempts. Auto-generated starting point — validate and tune in your environment before deploying. IOC matches can false-positive on shared infrastructure and decay as adversary infrastructure rotates.

title: FortiOS SSL-VPN Authentication Bypass Attempt
description: Detects HTTP requests targeting FortiOS SSL-VPN authentication endpoints
  with patterns consistent with CVE-2022-40684 (FortiBleed) exploitation - malformed
  or missing auth tokens, or direct access to protected endpoints without proper session
  validation.
tags:
- attack.t1190
logsource:
  category: proxy
  product: fortios
detection:
  selection:
    url|contains:
    - /remote/login
    - /remote/fortisslvpn
    - /api/v2/cmdb
    http_method:
    - GET
    - POST
    status_code:
    - 200
    - 204
  filter_auth_present:
    http_headers|contains: 'Authorization:'
  condition: selection and not filter_auth_present
falsepositives:
- Legitimate session timeout and re-authentication flows
- Health check scripts that bypass normal auth paths in secure networks
level: high
id: 43aed0c2-7a24-5798-8dcd-33de39f4f5f5
status: experimental
author: Vorant

Fortinet Device Configuration Access Without Authentication

ATT&CK T1552.001

Detects unauthenticated access to Fortinet admin interface or configuration APIs where credentials or sensitive configuration may be exposed. Auto-generated starting point — validate and tune in your environment before deploying. IOC matches can false-positive on shared infrastructure and decay as adversary infrastructure rotates.

title: Fortinet Device Configuration Access Without Authentication
description: Detects unauthenticated HTTP requests to Fortinet administrative interfaces
  or configuration endpoints that may expose credentials or system configuration data
  via CVE-2022-40684 bypass.
tags:
- attack.t1552.001
logsource:
  category: proxy
  product: fortios
detection:
  selection_admin_endpoints:
    url|contains:
    - /admin/
    - /api/v2/cmdb/system/
    - /api/v2/cmdb/user/
    - /cgi-bin/
  selection_unauthenticated:
    http_headers|contains:
    - 'X-FORTIAUTHENTICATION:'
    http_headers|contains|all:
    - 'X-FORTIAUTHENTICATION:'
  selection_success:
    status_code:
    - 200
    - 204
  condition: selection_admin_endpoints and selection_success and not selection_unauthenticated
falsepositives:
- Pre-authentication information pages on Fortinet login portals
- Automated configuration backup tools with embedded credentials in headers
level: high
id: 8a3fb8bd-8e49-5871-bbd1-2b8ff6cf000a
status: experimental
author: Vorant

Suspicious Credential Extraction from FortiOS Configuration

ATT&CK T1552.001

Detects file access or memory reads targeting Fortinet configuration files or processes containing stored credentials, exploiting authentication bypass to access credential storage. Auto-generated starting point — validate and tune in your environment before deploying. IOC matches can false-positive on shared infrastructure and decay as adversary infrastructure rotates.

title: Suspicious Credential Extraction from FortiOS Configuration
description: Detects local file access or process memory reads targeting Fortinet
  configuration or credential storage locations on the compromised device, following
  authentication bypass via CVE-2022-40684.
tags:
- attack.t1552.001
logsource:
  category: file_event
  product: fortios
detection:
  selection_config_files:
    TargetFilename|contains:
    - /etc/passwd
    - /etc/shadow
    - /etc/config/
    - /data/
    Action:
    - read
    - open
  selection_credential_patterns:
    TargetFilename|contains:
    - system.conf
    - user.conf
    - admin.conf
    - vpn_ssl.conf
  selection_suspicious_process:
    Image|contains:
    - curl
    - wget
    - cat
    - strings
  condition: (selection_config_files or selection_credential_patterns) and selection_suspicious_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate system administration tools reading configuration during backup procedures
- Routine Fortinet internal processes accessing configuration for normal operations
level: medium
id: eba2d6ff-1546-5a69-aea7-239d0ab4fb98
status: experimental
author: Vorant

Behavioural rules are generated from public reporting — validate in your environment before deploying.

Source reporting: https://www.ransomware.live/id/ZmVycmV0b3JuaWxsb3MuY29tQEwgR3JvdXA=

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