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ForticlientApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2018-9195

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
Use of a hardcoded cryptographic key in the FortiGuard services communication protocol may allow a Man in the middle with knowledge of the key to eavesdrop on and modify information (URL/SPAM services in FortiOS 5.6, and URL/SPAM/AV services in FortiOS 6.0.; URL rating in FortiClient) sent and received from Fortiguard severs by decrypting these messages. Affected products include FortiClient for Windows 6.0.6 and below, FortiOS 6.0.7 and below, FortiClient for Mac OS 6.2.1 and below.

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

FortiOS and FortiClient products use a hardcoded cryptographic key in the FortiGuard services communication protocol. An attacker with knowledge of this key can perform man-in-the-middle attacks to decrypt and modify traffic for URL filtering, SPAM, and antivirus services sent between the affected products and FortiGuard servers.

MitigationUpdate FortiClient for Windows to version 6.0.7 or higher, FortiClient for Mac OS to 6.2.2 or higher, and FortiOS to version 6.0.8 or higher to replace the hardcoded key with proper key management.

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:<= 6.0.6<= 6.2.1
FortiosOperating system
Affected:<= 6.0.6

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Check FortiOS version
    Log into the FortiOS CLI and run: get system status. Alternatively, check via web UI at Dashboard > System > Firmware. Look for the Firmware version field.
    Affected if The displayed version is 6.0.6 or lower.
  2. Check FortiClient version
    On Windows, open Programs and Features or check C:\Program Files\Fortinet\FortiClient\. On Mac, check /Applications or run: ls /Applications. Look for FortiClient and note its version number.
    Affected if The version is 6.0.6 or lower, or between 6.0.7 and 6.2.1 (inclusive).
  3. Verify FortiGuard services are enabled in FortiOS
    In FortiOS web UI, navigate to Security Profiles > URL Filter, or Security Profiles > AntiSpam, or Security Profiles > Antivirus. Check if any profile is active and applied to a policy. In CLI, run: get system interface <interface_name> to see security profiles applied.
    Affected if Any FortiGuard-based security profile (URL filtering, SPAM, antivirus) is actively applied to a policy and processing traffic.
  4. Verify FortiGuard services are enabled in FortiClient
    Open FortiClient application. Navigate to AntiVirus > Settings or Web Filter > Settings. Check if FortiGuard-based protection is turned on or enabled.
    Affected if FortiGuard URL filtering, SPAM filter, or antivirus services are enabled in the FortiClient settings.

You are affected if you run FortiOS 6.0.6 or lower, or FortiClient 6.0.6/6.2.1 or lower, AND have FortiGuard services (URL filtering, SPAM, or antivirus) enabled and actively processing traffic.

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 6.2.1
Interim mitigation

Update FortiClient for Windows to version 6.0.7 or higher, FortiClient for Mac OS to 6.2.2 or higher, and FortiOS to version 6.0.8 or higher to replace the hardcoded key with proper key management.

Fix this in Forticlient Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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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-2018-9195 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data