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ForticlientApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2016-8493

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
In FortiClientWindows 5.4.1 and 5.4.2, an attacker may escalate privilege via a FortiClientNamedPipe vulnerability.

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 · moderate confidence

FortiClient Windows versions 5.4.1 and 5.4.2 contain a vulnerability in the FortiClientNamedPipe component that allows an attacker to escalate privileges, likely due to improper access controls on the named pipe communication channel.

MitigationUpgrade FortiClient Windows to a version newer than 5.4.2, as this is a client-side privilege escalation vulnerability with high CVSS score.

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
ForticlientApplication
Affected:= 5.4.1= 5.4.2

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Identify installed FortiClient version
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or right-click the FortiClient icon and select 'About FortiClient', or run 'wmic product get name,version' to list installed software versions
    Affected if the displayed version is 5.4.1 or 5.4.2 exactly
  2. Confirm FortiClient installation
    Check if FortiClient is installed in the default location: C:\Program Files\Fortinet\FortiClient\ or look for FortiClient.exe in the program directory
    Affected if FortiClient version 5.4.1 or 5.4.2 is found in the installation directory
  3. Verify vulnerable component presence
    Check for the FortiClient named pipe service or process: look for 'FortiClient' processes in Task Manager or check for the FortiClient scheduler/service running
    Affected if FortiClient version 5.4.1 or 5.4.2 is running with the FortiClientNamedPipe component active

You are affected if FortiClient Windows version 5.4.1 or 5.4.2 is installed and the FortiClientNamedPipe component is present 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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade FortiClient Windows to a version newer than 5.4.2, as this is a client-side privilege escalation vulnerability with high CVSS score.

Fix this in Forticlient Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,440
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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-2016-8493 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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