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Antivirus EngineApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2020-9295

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.00145 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
FortiOS 6.2 running AV engine version 6.00142 and below, FortiOS 6.4 running AV engine version 6.00144 and below and FortiClient 6.2 running AV engine version 6.00137 and below may not immediately detect certain types of malformed or non-standard RAR archives, potentially containing malicious files. Based on the samples provided, FortiClient will detect the malicious files upon trying extraction by real-time scanning and FortiGate will detect the malicious archive if Virus Outbreak Prevention is enabled.

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

The FortiOS and FortiClient antivirus engines versions 6.00142/6.00144/6.00137 and below fail to immediately detect malformed or non-standard RAR archives containing malicious files during initial scanning. While FortiClient can detect the payload upon extraction via real-time scanning and FortiGate can detect it if Virus Outbreak Prevention is enabled, the initial scan point misses these specially crafted archives.

MitigationUpdate FortiOS to AV engine version 6.00143 or higher (6.2) / 6.00145 or higher (6.4), and FortiClient to version 6.00138 or higher. Alternatively, enable Virus Outbreak Prevention on FortiGate devices as a compensating control.

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
Antivirus EngineApplication
Affected:< 6.00145

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Check Fortinet Antivirus Engine version on FortiOS
    Run the command: get system status (or diagnose sys endpoint info) to retrieve the AV engine version field
    Affected if The displayed Antivirus Engine version is below 6.00145
  2. Check Fortinet Antivirus Engine version on FortiClient
    Open FortiClient console, go to About or Settings > About to view the Antivirus Engine version
    Affected if The displayed Antivirus Engine version is below 6.00145
  3. Verify if initial RAR archive scanning is enabled
    On FortiOS: check scan configuration via 'config antivirus profile' or examine if archive scanning is set to 'full' or 'archive' mode. On FortiClient: verify real-time protection settings in the scan profile
    Affected if Archive scanning (specifically for RAR files) is enabled as part of initial scan without relying solely on Virus Outbreak Prevention or extraction-time scanning
  4. Confirm RAR handling behavior in scan profile
    Review antivirus profile settings for RAR archive handling: run 'get antivirus profile' or inspect the archive-scan settings in the GUI under AV profiles
    Affected if RAR archives are processed during the initial scan phase rather than being deferred to extraction-time or real-time scanning only

You are affected if your Fortinet Antivirus Engine version is below 6.00145 AND your configuration relies on initial scanning of RAR archives (without Virus Outbreak Prevention or extraction-time detection as the primary detection method).

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 6.00145 or later
Fixed in 6.00145
Interim mitigation

Update FortiOS to AV engine version 6.00143 or higher (6.2) / 6.00145 or higher (6.4), and FortiClient to version 6.00138 or higher. Alternatively, enable Virus Outbreak Prevention on FortiGate devices as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

Antivirus Engine 6.00145 or higher

  1. Upgrade FortiOS AV engine to version 6.00145 or higher for FortiOS 6.2 and 6.4
  2. Upgrade FortiClient 6.2 AV engine to version 6.00145 or higher
  3. After upgrade, verify the AV engine version meets the minimum requirement of 6.00145

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

Fix this in Antivirus Engine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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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-2020-9295 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