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Inside the FortiBleed Open Directory: A Technical Analysis of What the Attacker Left Behind

· Published 19/06/2026 20:47

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Essential information

Published
19/06/2026 20:47
Modified
Source / Author
AlienVault
Confidence
100/100
Report type(s)
threat-report
Labels / Tags
credential harvesting fortibleed fortigate fortinet hash cracking hashtopolis initial access broker vpn compromise
Related entities
7 indicators, 7 observables, 20 techniques (mitre)

Description

An exposed attacker server has unveiled FortiBleed, a large-scale credential-compromise campaign targeting internet-facing firewalls and SSL VPN gateways globally. This operation involved through reuse, brute force, and hash cracking using a distributed GPU infrastructure with approximately 36 rented GPUs via Hashtopolis. The exposed directory contained 319 files revealing scanning tools, cracking infrastructure, credential databases, post-exploitation toolkits, and active VPN configurations. While initially reported as affecting 21,632 domains, analysis of the attacker's own tooling reveals only 918 organizations showed evidence of internal network compromise, with merely 148 confirmed cases where credentials were fully cracked. The operation ultimately aimed to sell initial access to compromised networks, with victims spanning 194 countries, predominantly India, United States, and Taiwan.

External references