ForticlientApplication · Fortinet
CVE-2018-9190
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 · uneditedA null pointer dereference vulnerability in Fortinet FortiClientWindows 6.0.2 and earlier allows attacker to cause a denial of service via the NDIS miniport driver.
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 confidenceA null pointer dereference vulnerability in the NDIS miniport driver of Fortinet FortiClient Windows 6.0.2 and earlier allows local or remote attackers to crash the driver, causing a denial of service condition.
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
<= 6.0.2CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify FortiClient Windows is installedOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use PowerShell: Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -like '*FortiClient*'}Affected if FortiClient Windows does not appear in the installed programs list, then this CVE does not apply
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Determine the installed FortiClient versionIn Programs and Features, locate FortiClient and note the version column. Alternatively, right-click the FortiClient icon in the system tray or Start menu, select About or Help > About FortiClient to view the version number.Affected if Unable to determine the version, assume it may be an affected version until verified otherwise
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Compare your version against the affected rangeCheck if the installed version is 6.0.2 or earlier. FortiClient versions are typically displayed as major.minor.build (for example, 6.0.2, 6.0.1, 5.x.x)Affected if The installed version is 6.0.2 or any version number lower than 6.0.2 (such as 6.0.1, 6.0.0, or 5.x.x releases)
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Confirm the NDIS miniport driver component is presentFortiClient includes a network driver component for VPN or endpoint protection features. Check Device Manager > Network adapters for FortiClient-related network drivers, or check the FortiClient installation directory for NDIS-related driver files (.sys or .sys files)Affected if The NDIS miniport driver component is present and the FortiClient version is 6.0.2 or earlier, the environment is vulnerable to the null pointer dereference that can cause a denial of service
If FortiClient Windows is installed with version 6.0.2 or earlier and includes the NDIS miniport driver component, the system is affected by this CVE and could crash due to the null pointer dereference vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade FortiClient Windows to a version newer than 6.0.2 to receive the vendor patch that addresses the null pointer dereference in the NDIS miniport driver.
Fix this in Forticlient
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-9190 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-9190 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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