dbcve.org
Forticlient Host SecurityHardware / appliance · Fortinet

CVE-2008-0779

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.0 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The fortimon.sys device driver in Fortinet FortiClient Host Security 3.0 MR5 Patch 3 and earlier does not properly initialize its DeviceExtension, which allows local users to access kernel memory and execute arbitrary code via a crafted request.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The fortimon.sys kernel-mode device driver in Fortinet FortiClient Host Security 3.0 MR5 Patch 3 and earlier fails to properly initialize its DeviceExtension structure. This allows local authenticated users to send crafted IOCTL requests to the driver, leaking uninitialized kernel memory that can be exploited to gain kernel-level code execution and escalate privileges.

MitigationUpdate FortiClient Host Security to a version newer than 3.0 MR5 Patch 3, or disable/remove the fortimon.sys driver and FortiClient software until a patched version can be deployed.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Forticlient Host SecurityHardware / appliance
Affected:<= 3.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify FortiClient Host Security is installed
    Check for FortiClient Host Security installation. On Windows, look in Add/Remove Programs or check for FortiClient installation directories (typically C:\Program Files\Fortinet\FortiClient\ or similar).
    Affected if FortiClient Host Security is not installed on the system, the vulnerability does not apply.
  2. Determine installed FortiClient version
    Locate the FortiClient version information. Check the program files directory for version files, or right-click on the FortiClient executable and view Properties > Details for the version number.
    Affected if The installed version is higher than 3.0 MR5 Patch 3 (for example, 3.0 MR6 or later), the system is not affected by this specific CVE.
  3. Locate fortimon.sys driver file
    Search for fortimon.sys on the system. Typical locations for kernel drivers include C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ or the FortiClient installation directory. Use the command: dir /s C:\fortimon.sys
    Affected if The fortimon.sys driver file does not exist on the system, the vulnerability cannot be exploited.
  4. Check if fortimon.sys driver is loaded
    Verify the driver is currently loaded in memory. Use the command: sc query fortimon or examine the running drivers list. The driver name in the service may appear as 'fortimon' or similar.
    Affected if The fortimon.sys driver is not loaded or not present, the IOCTL vulnerability cannot be triggered.
  5. Confirm driver version matches affected range
    If fortimon.sys is found, right-click the file, select Properties, and check the File Version tab. Compare against the affected version range of 3.0 MR5 Patch 3 and earlier.
    Affected if The driver version is higher than 3.0 MR5 Patch 3, the specific memory initialization flaw may not be present.

The system is affected only if FortiClient Host Security version 3.0 MR5 Patch 3 or earlier is installed, the fortimon.sys driver file exists, and that driver is currently loaded on the system.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.0
Interim mitigation

Update FortiClient Host Security to a version newer than 3.0 MR5 Patch 3, or disable/remove the fortimon.sys driver and FortiClient software until a patched version can be deployed.

Fix this in Forticlient Host Security Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-0779 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-0779 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data