CVE-2020-6649
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 · uneditedAn insufficient session expiration vulnerability in FortiNet's FortiIsolator version 2.0.1 and below may allow an attacker to reuse the unexpired admin user session IDs to gain admin privileges, should the attacker be able to obtain that session ID (via other, hypothetical attacks)
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 confidenceInsufficient session expiration in FortiIsolator versions 2.0.1 and below allows reuse of unexpired admin session IDs for privilege escalation. An attacker who obtains a valid admin session ID through other attack vectors (such as network interception, XSS, or log compromise) can reuse it to authenticate as the admin user even after the expected session timeout period.
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<= 2.0.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify FortiIsolator versionAccess the FortiIsolator administrative interface or use the system command to retrieve the installed software version. Look for a version field in the system information, about page, or CLI command output.Affected if The reported version is 2.0.1 or lower (any version numbered 2.0.1, 2.0.0, 1.x.x, or below)
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Compare against affected rangeLocate the version number identified in the previous step and compare it numerically to the affected range: 2.0.1 and below.Affected if The version falls at or below 2.0.1, indicating the unpatched session expiration mechanism
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Verify admin session configuration (if accessible)If you have administrative access to FortiIsolator, examine the session management or timeout settings in the admin configuration panel. Note the configured session timeout value.Affected if Session timeout is configured but the system permits reuse of session IDs beyond the configured timeout period (this requires manual testing or log analysis to confirm)
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Review session logs for anomalous activityExamine FortiIsolator authentication and session logs for admin login events that occur after the expected session timeout has elapsed using the same session identifier.Affected if Logs show admin session reuse occurring after the defined session timeout period, confirming the vulnerability is present
Your environment is affected if FortiIsolator is installed at version 2.0.1 or below, as these versions contain the insufficient session expiration flaw that allows stale session IDs to remain valid beyond the intended timeout.
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 FortiIsolator to version 2.0.2 or later to obtain the patched session expiration mechanism. If immediate patching is not feasible, implement session token rotation policies and monitor for anomalous admin session activity.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6649 — 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-2020-6649 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
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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