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What counts as evidence of exploitation?
Internet-facing VPN and security appliances are both targets and observation points. Their logs can show the request that triggered a vulnerability, but they may not show what happened afterward. An attacker can receive an error while probing, while a successful exploit can return an ordinary status code or leave evidence in a different subsystem.
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Use three evidence levels in your incident notes:
- Reconnaissance or attempted exploitation: a suspicious request is present, but there is no corroborating success response, file change, account change, process execution, or callback.
- Likely successful exploitation: exploit-shaped traffic is followed by an unusual resource retrieval, shell activity, a new or modified file, an administrator or configuration change, or another direct success indicator.
- Confirmed or strongly supported compromise: multiple independent sources show execution, persistence, credential misuse, lateral movement, or an attacker-controlled outbound connection.
Keep these labels separate. Calling every malformed request a breach creates unnecessary outages; calling a request-only event harmless can leave a webshell or stolen credential in place.
Establish scope and a trustworthy timeline
Inventory every affected appliance
List every Citrix NetScaler ADC or Gateway, Fortinet FortiOS or FortiManager system, and Ivanti Connect Secure or Policy Secure appliance. Record firmware or software version, serial or asset identifier, management address, internet exposure, enabled VPN and SAML roles, administrative interfaces, and the systems that depend on each device. Include inactive, standby, and disaster-recovery units: an overlooked peer can retain the same vulnerable condition or provide an attacker with a path back in.
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Set the investigation window
Record the earliest suspicious timestamp, the last known-good administrative activity, patch and reboot times, and the time the device was removed from service. Normalize appliance, SIEM, identity-provider, DNS, firewall, endpoint, and packet data to UTC before searching. Preserve the original timestamp and timezone as separate fields so daylight-saving changes or clock drift do not create a false sequence.
Map exposure and trust relationships
Note which interfaces were reachable from the public internet, which accepted VPN or SAML traffic, and which exposed management functions. Identify directory services, identity providers, DNS resolvers, jump hosts, configuration repositories, and internal networks reachable from each appliance. This map determines which connected systems must be hunted if the gateway is suspected.
Preserve and centralize the logs before hunting
Export immutable copies to a separate SIEM or log store before rotating, rebooting, upgrading, or factory-resetting an appliance. Retain the raw event, normalized fields, collection time, and source identifier. Restrict deletion rights, record who accessed the evidence, and calculate integrity checks where your process supports them.
Forward these categories whenever the platform exposes them:
- HTTP access and error logs, including request method, URI, status, source address, host, user agent, and response size.
- Authentication, VPN, SAML, authorization, and administrator-session events.
- Administrative, configuration, policy, certificate, and account-change logs.
- Shell, process, crash, restart, and system events.
- File-integrity or integrity-checker alerts and records of file creation, modification, and deletion.
- DNS queries, firewall flows, proxy records, endpoint alerts, and outbound connection metadata for the appliance and nearby systems.
Citrix investigations have especially important local files. Preserve /var/log/httpaccess.log, /var/log/httperror.log, and the internal sh.log* and bash.log* files. A SIEM copy is easier to correlate, but the original files can contain ordering, fields, or shell context that a parser omitted.
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Detect suspicious activity on Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway
Use the concrete request sequence as a high-value lead
CISA, citing TrustedSec, describes a possible successful-exploitation pattern as a POST request to a URI containing /../ or /vpn, followed by a GET request for an XML file. Search /var/log/httpaccess.log and /var/log/httperror.log for that order, not merely for either string in isolation.
Per TrustedSec, a sign of successful exploitation would be a
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For each match, capture the source address, host header, exact URI, method, response status, response size, user agent, and the time gap between the POST and XML GET. Then look for the same source or session in authentication, shell, file-integrity, configuration, DNS, firewall, and endpoint records. A scanner may send the first request but never obtain the follow-on resource; that distinction matters.
Investigate CVE-2023-3519 indicators
For investigations involving Citrix CVE-2023-3519, search the internal sh.log* and bash.log* files for database.php, access to unknown web resources, shell commands, and unexpected file activity. Review nearby administrator actions and configuration changes. The string alone is not a verdict: establish whether it was part of a normal appliance operation, identify the initiating process or account when available, and check for a resulting file, process, or outbound connection.
Look for persistence and unauthorized changes
Compare file-integrity records and configuration snapshots with a known-good baseline. Flag newly created web-accessible files, altered scripts, unfamiliar resources, new administrator accounts, changed authentication settings, unexpected certificates, and policy or routing changes. Search for shell activity at times when no approved maintenance was scheduled. A successful request followed by any of these changes should be escalated even if the HTTP response was an error.
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Correlate the gateway with identity and network data
Check whether the source address authenticated before or after the suspicious request, whether a new session or token appeared, and whether the same identity was used from an unusual location. Review DNS lookups and firewall flows from the appliance for newly contacted domains or addresses. Hunt endpoints and servers that received VPN access, administrative connections, or configuration changes during the window.
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Detect exploitation attempts against Fortinet appliances
Build a dated CVE watchlist
Begin triage with CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and current Fortinet advisories. Record the affected product, vulnerable versions, exposure, exploitation status, vendor mitigation, patch date, and the time each appliance was updated. A dated watchlist prevents a newly disclosed or actively exploited issue from being lost among older alerts.
Investigate CVE-2024-21762
CISA characterizes CVE-2024-21762 as an unauthenticated FortiOS out-of-bounds write that can enable code or command execution through crafted HTTP requests and lists it as actively exploited. Search HTTP access and error records for crafted or malformed requests near crashes, unexpected restarts, anomalous child processes, and outbound connections. Align the request time with system, process, authentication, DNS, firewall, and endpoint telemetry.
Do not treat a crash as proof of execution, or a successful HTTP response as proof that no execution occurred. A sequence such as crafted request, process or restart anomaly, and an outbound connection is materially stronger than any one event. Preserve crash artifacts and system logs before rebooting if operationally safe.
Investigate FortiManager CVE-2024-47575
Obtain Fortinet’s current indicator-of-compromise list for CVE-2024-47575 and search it against management, authentication, configuration-download, and file-access logs. Include both successful and failed access, because an attacker may test credentials or paths before obtaining data. Review configuration exports and administrator history for unexpected downloads, policy edits, new accounts, or changes to managed-device trust.
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Check management-plane consequences
FortiManager and other management components can affect many downstream devices. If an appliance is suspicious, identify configuration packages, certificates, credentials, and policy changes distributed during the investigation window. Hunt managed firewalls and connected administrative workstations for the same source addresses, identities, files, and outbound destinations. Containment should account for this broader control plane rather than isolating only the original appliance.
Detect compromise of Ivanti Connect Secure or Policy Secure
Review the broadest set of local evidence
Search web, authentication, SAML, administrative, integrity-checker, and system logs for unexpected requests, new or modified files, unknown administrator activity, credential use from unusual sources, and outbound callbacks. Correlate each event with the identity provider, VPN records, DNS, firewall, endpoint telemetry, and systems reached through the appliance. Pay attention to activity that begins after an apparently unsuccessful request: persistence can be installed without a conspicuous success page.
Use containment as an immediate control
Ivanti investigations require a containment-heavy response. CISA directed agencies to disconnect affected Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure products from agency networks as soon as possible and no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 2, 2024. For an enterprise incident, apply the same principle according to your incident plan: disconnect or isolate the appliance, preserve evidence, and provide an alternate access path before making changes that destroy forensic data.
Hunt systems connected to the appliance, monitor authentication and identity services for token or credential misuse, isolate enterprise resources that could have been reached through the gateway, and limit unnecessary outbound internet access. Review privileged accounts, SAML trust, certificates, VPN sessions, and administrator changes. Patching or upgrading is necessary when a vulnerable condition exists, but it does not demonstrate that a webshell, account change, or persistence mechanism is gone.
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Use a written decision record for each source, timestamp, and appliance. The following signals support escalation when they occur after exploit-shaped traffic:
| Observed evidence | Interpretation | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Single malformed or unusual HTTP request with no follow-on activity | Possible reconnaissance or attempted exploitation | Preserve the event, search for the same source and URI, and correlate identity and network telemetry |
Citrix POST containing /../ or /vpn, followed by an XML GET |
Possible successful exploitation pattern described by CISA | Escalate the appliance for file, shell, account, configuration, and outbound-connection review |
Unexpected web resource, database.php activity, shell command, or unknown file |
Evidence consistent with execution or persistence | Contain, preserve local logs and files, and hunt connected systems |
| Crafted FortiOS request followed by crash, restart, child process, or callback | Stronger indication of exploitation than the request alone | Isolate the device and investigate process, system, DNS, firewall, and endpoint records |
| New Ivanti file, administrator activity, credential anomaly, or outbound callback | Potential compromise or persistence | Disconnect or isolate, monitor identity services, and hunt reachable enterprise resources |
Classify an event as reconnaissance only when the search found no follow-on success response, file or account change, process execution, configuration change, or outbound callback. Record what was checked and the time range; an unsearched data source is not the same as a clean result.
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Normalize fields before creating detections
Use a common event schema across vendors. At minimum, retain:
event_time_utcand the original timestamp and timezone.vendor,product,appliance_id, software version, and interface or role.source_ip, source port, destination, host header, and network zone.http_method, full URI, status, response size, user agent, and request identifier when available.username, identity-provider account, session or token identifier, authentication result, and administrator role.process, command, parent process, file path, file action, configuration object, and integrity result.dns_query, resolved address, firewall action, outbound destination, and connection result.collector_time, raw event, parser version, and evidence hash or retention label.
Create sequence detections instead of isolated keyword alerts
A useful detection joins events by appliance and source within a defined time window. Examples include:
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- Citrix suspicious POST containing
/../or/vpnfollowed by an XML GET, then an unknown resource or shell event. - Citrix
database.phpor shell activity followed by a file-integrity change, administrator action, DNS lookup, or outbound connection. - FortiOS crafted HTTP activity followed by a crash, restart, child process, or egress flow.
- FortiManager IOC match followed by configuration download, file access, authentication success, or managed-device change.
- Ivanti unexpected request followed by a new file, SAML or administrator anomaly, credential use from an unusual source, or callback.
Keep the original raw event beside the normalized record so an analyst can validate parser behavior and ordering. Test detections against approved maintenance and vulnerability-scanning windows to reduce false positives without suppressing the underlying data.
Quick Recap
How the three appliance families differ
| Dimension | Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway | Fortinet FortiOS/FortiManager | Ivanti Connect Secure/Policy Secure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most useful local sources | /var/log/httpaccess.log, /var/log/httperror.log, sh.log*, and bash.log* |
HTTP, system, authentication, management, configuration, file-access, crash, and process-related logs | Web, authentication, SAML, administrative, integrity-checker, and system logs |
| Most specific lead in this guidance | POST URI containing /../ or /vpn, followed by GET for an XML file |
CVE watchlist; for CVE-2024-21762, crafted HTTP activity with execution or restart-related evidence | Unexpected requests correlated with files, administrator activity, credential anomalies, or callbacks |
| Evidence of persistence or execution | database.php, unknown web resources, shell activity, file creation, configuration or account changes |
Anomalous child process, crash or restart sequence, outbound connection, IOC matches, or management changes | New or modified files, unknown administrator activity, identity anomalies, integrity alerts, or outbound callbacks |
| Required external correlation | Identity, DNS, firewall, endpoint, file-integrity, and outbound-connection data | Identity, DNS, firewall, endpoint, process, crash, and managed-device data | Identity provider, VPN, DNS, firewall, endpoint, connected-system, and outbound data |
| Response emphasis | Preserve logs and investigate before returning the device to service | Apply current vendor remediation and investigate management-plane effects | Disconnect or isolate, hunt connected systems, monitor identity services, and restrict unnecessary egress |
Incident workflow after a credible alert
- Open an incident and freeze the timeline. Record the appliance, source addresses, earliest and latest events, software version, exposure, and who made each change.
- Preserve evidence. Export raw appliance logs, the Citrix files where applicable, identity and network records, crash artifacts, configuration snapshots, and integrity data to a protected store.
- Contain without destroying evidence. Disconnect or isolate the appliance when the risk warrants it. Block unnecessary inbound and outbound paths, and use an approved alternate access method.
- Hunt connected systems. Search VPN users, administrator workstations, directory services, identity providers, DNS, firewall flows, endpoint alerts, and systems reached through the device.
- Assess credentials and trust. Review new accounts, privilege changes, SAML or certificate changes, token use, and credentials that may have been exposed. Rotate secrets through a controlled process when compromise is plausible.
- Remediate the vulnerable condition. Apply the vendor’s current patch or mitigation, verify the resulting version, and remove unauthorized files, accounts, policies, and certificates only after evidence is preserved.
- Validate before restoration. Compare files and configuration with a trusted baseline, confirm logging and time synchronization, test outbound restrictions, and monitor the appliance and connected systems for recurrence.
Common mistakes that hide appliance exploitation
- Relying on status codes: 4xx and 5xx responses can accompany both probes and successful activity; correlate the complete sequence.
- Keeping logs only on the appliance: an attacker or reboot can erase them. Forward and protect copies centrally.
- Ignoring shell and integrity logs: HTTP records may show the trigger while
sh.log*,bash.log*, or integrity events show execution and persistence. - Failing to normalize time: clock skew can reverse the apparent order of a request, login, file change, and callback.
- Treating a patch as a clean bill of health: patching removes a vulnerable condition; it does not prove that a webshell, account change, or persistence mechanism was not installed.
- Searching only for a single indicator: strings such as
/vpnordatabase.phprequire context, source correlation, and a search for resulting actions. - Forgetting the management plane: FortiManager and similar systems can distribute changes, so investigate managed devices and administrative workstations too.
- Leaving egress unrestricted: outbound DNS and connection telemetry can reveal callbacks; unnecessary internet access increases the attacker’s options.
Operational checklist
- Inventory all Citrix, Fortinet, and Ivanti instances, versions, roles, exposure, and retention periods.
- Normalize every source to UTC and record the earliest suspicious timestamp.
- Forward immutable HTTP, authentication, administrative, shell, configuration, integrity, and system logs.
- For Citrix, preserve
httpaccess.log,httperror.log,sh.log*, andbash.log*; search the CISA-described POST-to-XML sequence anddatabase.php. - For Fortinet, maintain a dated CISA KEV and Fortinet advisory watchlist; investigate CVE-2024-21762 and current FortiManager IOC guidance.
- For Ivanti, review web, SAML, administrator, integrity, and system evidence and prepare to disconnect affected devices.
- Correlate appliance events with identity, DNS, firewall, endpoint, connected-system, and outbound telemetry.
- Classify the event explicitly as probe, likely compromise, or confirmed or strongly supported compromise.
- Preserve evidence, contain, hunt connected systems, remediate, and validate before returning the appliance to service.
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