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FortisiemApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2019-17659

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2.7 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
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 use of hard-coded cryptographic key vulnerability in FortiSIEM version 5.2.6 may allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to obtain SSH access to the supervisor as the restricted user "tunneluser" by leveraging knowledge of the private key from another installation or a firmware image.

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

Hard-coded SSH private key in FortiSIEM 5.2.6 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to gain SSH access as the restricted user 'tunneluser' on the supervisor node by using the known private key extracted from firmware or another installation.

MitigationUpdate FortiSIEM to a patched version; until then, restrict external SSH access to the supervisor and monitor for unauthorized access attempts using the hardcoded credentials.

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:< 5.2.7

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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 FortiSIEM version
    Run command: ph鹤clt -v or check /opt/phoenix/config/phoenix.cfg for version string, or look at the UI login page footer
    Affected if Version is 5.2.6 or lower (any version < 5.2.7)
  2. Confirm SSH service is enabled on supervisor
    Check if SSH daemon is running: systemctl status sshd or service ssh status. Also check firewall rules: iptables -L -n | grep 22 or firewalld --list-all
    Affected if SSH port 22 is open and accessible from untrusted networks
  3. Verify tunneluser account exists
    Run: id tunneluser or grep tunneluser /etc/passwd on the FortiSIEM supervisor node
    Affected if The account 'tunneluser' exists on the system
  4. Locate hardcoded SSH private key file
    Search for SSH private keys in common locations: find / -name 'id_rsa' -o -name 'id_dsa' -o -name 'id_ecdsa' 2>/dev/null. Check /home/tunneluser/.ssh/ directory if tunneluser home exists
    Affected if An SSH private key file is found in the FortiSIEM filesystem, especially in user home directories or application directories
  5. Check SSH authorized_keys for tunneluser
    Examine /home/tunneluser/.ssh/authorized_keys if the directory exists, or check /root/.ssh/authorized_keys for any unexpected keys
    Affected if The authorized_keys file contains a key that was not added by your organization

You are affected if FortiSIEM version is below 5.2.7 AND SSH is accessible externally AND the tunneluser account exists with the hardcoded private key still present.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.2.7 or later
Fixed in 5.2.7
Interim mitigation

Update FortiSIEM to a patched version; until then, restrict external SSH access to the supervisor and monitor for unauthorized access attempts using the hardcoded credentials.

Recommended fix High confidence

FortiSIEM 5.2.7 or later

  1. 1. Back up the current FortiSIEM configuration and any custom scripts or integrations.
  2. 2. Download FortiSIEM version 5.2.7 or later from Fortinet's support portal.
  3. 3. Follow Fortinet's standard upgrade procedure for FortiSIEM supervisor nodes.
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify the SSH service is functioning normally.
  5. 5. Review access logs for any unauthorized access attempts using the hard-coded key.
  6. 6. Consider regenerating any SSH keys or credentials used in the environment.
Caveat Review FortiSIEM 5.2.7 release notes for any configuration or compatibility changes before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Fortisiem Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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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-2019-17659 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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