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FortisiemApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2019-16153

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-01-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.2.5 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
A hard-coded password vulnerability in the Fortinet FortiSIEM database component version 5.2.5 and below may allow attackers to access the device database via the use of static credentials.

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

FortiSIEM version 5.2.5 and below contains a hard-coded password embedded in the database component, creating a static credential that can be used by attackers to gain unauthorized access to the device database.

MitigationApply the vendor patch or upgrade FortiSIEM to a version above 5.2.5 to remove the hard-coded credentials, and rotate any default credentials immediately if still active.

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
FortisiemApplication
Affected:>= 5.0.0, <= 5.2.5

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 if FortiSIEM is installed
    Locate FortiSIEM installation directories or check system services for FortiSIEM components
    Affected if FortiSIEM software is found on the system
  2. Determine FortiSIEM version
    Use system inventory tools, package managers, or FortiSIEM-specific version commands to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or falls within the affected range
  3. Compare version to affected range
    Check if the installed version is >= 5.0.0 and <= 5.2.5
    Affected if Installed version is 5.2.5 or below, down to 5.0.0, indicating the hard-coded database credential is present
  4. Verify database component is in use
    Confirm the FortiSIEM database component (PostgreSQL or internal DB) is configured and active
    Affected if Database component is enabled and running, meaning the hard-coded credential could be exploited

If FortiSIEM versions 5.0.0 through 5.2.5 are installed with the database component active, the hard-coded password vulnerability is present in the environment.

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 5.2.5
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch or upgrade FortiSIEM to a version above 5.2.5 to remove the hard-coded credentials, and rotate any default credentials immediately if still active.

Fix this in Fortisiem Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

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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-2019-16153 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