dbcve.org
Fortigate 1000cHardware / appliance · Fortinet

CVE-2012-4948

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-11-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 default configuration of Fortinet Fortigate UTM appliances uses the same Certification Authority certificate and same private key across different customers' installations, which makes it easier for man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers by leveraging the presence of the Fortinet_CA_SSLProxy certificate in a list of trusted root certification authorities.

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

Fortinet Fortigate UTM appliances ship with a default SSL proxy CA certificate (Fortinet_CA_SSLProxy) and private key that is identical across all customer installations. An attacker who obtains this shared private key can perform man-in-the-middle attacks against SSL-encrypted sessions, spoofing legitimate servers since the certificate exists in the trusted root CA store.

MitigationReplace the default Fortinet_CA_SSLProxy certificate with a unique, customer-specific CA certificate generated on each appliance. This is typically done through the FortiGate web interface or CLI by generating a new certificate signing request or creating a local certificate authority.

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
Fortigate 1000cHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Fortigate 100dHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Fortigate 110cHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Fortigate 1240bHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Fortigate 200bHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Fortigate 20cHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Fortigate 300cHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Fortigate 3040bHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

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
Adjacent
Complexity
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

AV:A/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:P/A:N

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. Confirm Fortigate model is affected
    Identify the Fortigate model number via CLI command 'get system status' or through the web interface under Dashboard > Status. Check if the model is one of: 1000c, 100d, 110c, 1240b, 200b, 20c, 300c, or 3040b.
    Affected if The model is any of the listed affected models and is running any firmware version.
  2. Verify SSL proxy feature is enabled
    Check SSL proxy or SSL inspection configuration via CLI using 'get vpn ssl settings' or through the web interface under Security Profiles > SSL/SSH Inspection. Look for SSL proxy settings.
    Affected if The SSL proxy feature is enabled and configured to inspect SSL traffic.
  3. Identify the CA certificate used for SSL proxy
    Inspect the CA certificate configured for SSL proxy via CLI command 'get vpn ssl settings' or through the web interface under Security Profiles > SSL/SSH Inspection > CA Certificate. Identify which certificate is assigned as the proxy CA.
    Affected if The configured CA certificate is the default 'Fortinet_CA_SSLProxy' certificate.
  4. Check if default certificate has been replaced
    Review the CA certificate list via CLI command 'get vpn certificate ca list' or through the web interface under System > Certificates. Compare the SSL proxy CA against the default Fortinet certificate to determine if a unique, customer-generated certificate is in use.
    Affected if The default Fortinet_CA_SSLProxy certificate remains in use and has not been replaced with a unique certificate.

The environment is affected if the Fortigate model is one of the affected models, SSL proxy inspection is enabled, and the default Fortinet_CA_SSLProxy certificate is still being used rather than a unique customer-specific CA certificate.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Replace the default Fortinet_CA_SSLProxy certificate with a unique, customer-specific CA certificate generated on each appliance. This is typically done through the FortiGate web interface or CLI by generating a new certificate signing request or creating a local certificate authority.

Fix this in Fortigate 1000c Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2012-4948 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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