CVE-2019-6693
Fortinet FortiOS Use of Hard-Coded Credentials Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 16 July 2025). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
Use of a hard-coded cryptographic key to cipher sensitive data in FortiOS configuration backup file may allow an attacker with access to the backup file to decipher the sensitive data, via knowledge of the hard-coded key. The aforementioned sensitive data includes users' passwords (except the administrator's password), private keys' passphrases and High Availability password (when set).
- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- EPSS
- 5.62% probability · 92th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Listed 25 June 2025 · due 16 July 2025 · used in ransomware campaigns
- Weakness
- CWE-798
- Affected
- fortinet/fortios
- Source
- psirt@fortinet.com
CISA notes
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. https://fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-19-007 ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-6693
References
- https://fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-19-007Mitigation, Vendor Advisory
- https://fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-19-007Mitigation, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-6693US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.