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FortiwebApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2019-16156

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
An Improper Neutralization of Input vulnerability in the Anomaly Detection Parameter Name in Fortinet FortiWeb 6.0.5, 6.2.0, and 6.1.1 may allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to perform a Cross Site Scripting attack (XSS).

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

Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Anomaly Detection Parameter Name feature of FortiWeb versions 6.0.5, 6.2.0, and 6.1.1. The parameter name field does not properly sanitize user input, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to inject arbitrary JavaScript code via the vulnerable parameter.

MitigationUpgrade FortiWeb to a patched version beyond 6.0.5, 6.2.0, and 6.1.1 per Fortinet's advisory, or apply available security patches.

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
FortiwebApplication
Affected:>= 6.0.0, <= 6.0.5>= 6.1.0, <= 6.1.1= 6.2.0

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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. Confirm FortiWeb is installed
    Run 'get system status' via CLI or check the management GUI login page for the FortiWeb product name
    Affected if The product is FortiWeb
  2. Determine FortiWeb version
    Run 'get system status' in CLI or navigate to System > Firmware in the management GUI to read the exact version number
    Affected if The version is 6.0.0 through 6.0.5, 6.1.0 through 6.1.1, or exactly 6.2.0
  3. Check if Anomaly Detection is enabled
    Navigate to Server Protection > Anomaly Detection in the GUI or run 'show waf anomaly-detection' in CLI to inspect the configuration
    Affected if Anomaly Detection profile is active with parameter validation configured
  4. Inspect traffic logs for XSS attempts
    Review logs under Log & Report > Traffic Log or run 'execute log' commands, searching for script tags or JavaScript keywords in the parameter name field
    Affected if Log entries show unsolicited script content in parameter name fields

The environment is affected if FortiWeb version 6.0.0-6.0.5, 6.1.0-6.1.1, or 6.2.0 is running with the Anomaly Detection parameter name feature enabled and exposed to unauthenticated requests.

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 6.1.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FortiWeb to a patched version beyond 6.0.5, 6.2.0, and 6.1.1 per Fortinet's advisory, or apply available security patches.

Fix this in Fortiweb Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-16156 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