FortigateSniffer

FBI Issues Alert on Active FortiBleed Campaign Harvesting Credentials from Exposed FortiGate Firewalls

The FBI and United States Secret Service have issued a joint alert regarding the FortiBleed campaign, an ongoing operation that targets internet-exposed FortiGate firewalls and SSL VPN gateways. Attackers have already collected 86,644 valid credentials from devices across 194 countries as of June 19, demonstrating the global scale of the indiscriminate scanning effort. The campaign relies on reused or previously leaked credentials combined with legacy SHA-256 password storage that enables offline cracking. Operators employ automated credential stuffing, the Go-based FortigateSniffer tool capable of intercepting 24 authentication protocols, and GPU-accelerated password cracking. Once inside, attackers create unauthorized administrator accounts and often delete legitimate ones, forcing victims to perform full device recovery rather than simple password resets. The activity was first documented in June, with the official alert released on October 7, confirming that scanning continues.