ForticlientApplication · Fortinet
CVE-2019-16150
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 · uneditedUse of a hard-coded cryptographic key to encrypt security sensitive data in local storage and configuration in FortiClient for Windows prior to 6.4.0 may allow an attacker with access to the local storage or the configuration backup file to decrypt the sensitive data via knowledge of the hard-coded key.
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 confidenceFortiClient for Windows prior to version 6.4.0 uses a hard-coded cryptographic key to encrypt sensitive data such as credentials stored in local storage and configuration backup files. An attacker with access to these local storage files or configuration backups can decrypt the sensitive data by leveraging knowledge of the embedded key.
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
< 6.4.0CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if FortiClient for Windows is installedOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Fortinet\FortiClient\) for the FortiClient applicationAffected if FortiClient for Windows is present on the system
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Determine the installed FortiClient versionRight-click on FortiClient.exe in the installation folder, select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view the File Version. Alternatively, open FortiClient and check Help > AboutAffected if The version shown is prior to 6.4.0 (for example, 6.2.x, 6.0.x, 5.x, etc.)
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Identify configuration backup filesSearch for .fcx, .fct, or .conf files in user directories and the FortiClient installation folder, as these may contain encrypted configuration backupsAffected if Configuration backup files exist and the FortiClient version is below 6.4.0
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Locate local storage files with encrypted credentialsExamine the FortiClient data directory (typically under %APPDATA%\Fortinet\FortiClient\ or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Fortinet\FortiClient\) for database or config files that store credentialsAffected if Local storage files exist and the FortiClient version is below 6.4.0
You are affected if FortiClient for Windows version 6.4.0 or later is NOT installed, since earlier versions contain the hard-coded cryptographic key used to encrypt stored credentials and configuration data.
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 data6.4.0
Upgrade FortiClient for Windows to version 6.4.0 or later, which removes the hard-coded key and implements proper cryptographic key management. Review existing configuration backups and rotate any credentials that may have been stored using the vulnerable encryption.
Fix this in Forticlient
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-16150 — 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-2019-16150 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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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.
- 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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