FortiosOperating system · Fortinet
CVE-2019-5593
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 · uneditedImproper permission or value checking in the CLI console may allow a non-privileged user to obtain Fortinet FortiOS plaint text private keys of system's builtin local certificates via unsetting the keys encryption password in FortiOS 6.2.0, 6.0.0 to 6.0.6, 5.6.10 and below or for user uploaded local certificates via setting an empty password in FortiOS 6.2.1, 6.2.0, 6.0.6 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 confidenceA non-privileged user can exploit improper permission or value checking in the FortiOS CLI console to obtain plaintext private keys of local certificates. This is achieved by either unsetting the encryption password for builtin local certificates (affecting FortiOS 6.2.0, 6.0.0-6.0.6, 5.6.10 and below) or setting an empty password for user-uploaded local certificates (affecting FortiOS 6.2.1, 6.2.0, 6.0.6 and below).
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
FortiosOperating system
<= 5.6.10>= 6.0.0, <= 6.0.6= 6.2.0CVSS 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 FortiOS versionRun `get system status` in the FortiOS CLI to retrieve the firmware versionAffected if The version is 5.6.10 or below, 6.0.0 through 6.0.6, or exactly 6.2.0 (or 6.2.1 for user-uploaded certificates)
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List local certificatesRun `get vpn certificate local list` or `diagnose vpn certificate local list` in the CLI to view all installed certificatesAffected if Any local certificates (builtin or user-uploaded) exist on the device
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Check builtin certificate password statusFor each builtin local certificate, inspect whether the encryption password has been unset. Use `diagnose vpn certificate local detail <cert_name>` or check via the GUI under System > Certificates > Local CertificatesAffected if The encryption password for a builtin local certificate is unset or blank
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Check user-uploaded certificate password statusFor each user-uploaded local certificate, inspect the password configuration. Use `diagnose vpn certificate local detail <cert_name>` or check via the GUIAffected if A user-uploaded local certificate has an empty password set
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable FortiOS version (5.6.10 or below, 6.0.0-6.0.6, or 6.2.0/6.2.1) AND has local certificates with unset or empty encryption passwords accessible to non-privileged users.
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 dataUpgrade FortiOS to the vendor-provided patched versions that address this vulnerability. For environments that cannot upgrade immediately, restrict CLI console access to privileged users only.
Fix this in Fortios
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-5593 — 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-2019-5593 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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- 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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