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ForticlientApplication · Fortinet

CVE-2025-25251

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.2.9 / 7.4.3 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An Incorrect Authorization vulnerability [CWE-863] in FortiClient Mac 7.4.0 through 7.4.2, 7.2.0 through 7.2.8, 7.0.0 through 7.0.14 may allow a local attacker to escalate privileges via crafted XPC messages.

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

FortiClient Mac versions 7.0.0-7.0.14, 7.2.0-7.2.8, and 7.4.0-7.4.2 contain an incorrect authorization vulnerability in the XPC message handling. A local attacker can send crafted XPC messages to the FortiClient service to bypass authorization checks and escalate privileges to root or system level.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches from Fortinet for the affected FortiClient Mac versions. Upgrade to FortiClient 7.4.3 or later, 7.2.9 or later, and 7.0.15 or later.

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
ForticlientApplication
Affected:>= 7.0.0, < 7.2.9>= 7.4.0, < 7.4.3

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Confirm FortiClient is installed
    Check if FortiClient.app exists in /Applications/ directory using Finder or command: ls -la /Applications/ | grep -i forticlient
    Affected if FortiClient.app is present in /Applications/
  2. Retrieve installed FortiClient version
    Run: defaults read /Applications/FortiClient.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString or check the Info.plist file directly for the CFBundleShortVersionString value
    Affected if A version number is returned from FortiClient installation
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Compare the retrieved version to these ranges: 7.0.0 through 7.0.14, 7.2.0 through 7.2.8, or 7.4.0 through 7.4.2
    Affected if Version falls within 7.0.0-7.0.14, 7.2.0-7.2.8, or 7.4.0-7.4.2
  4. Check for patched version availability
    Review FortiClient version by examining the app bundle or using system profiler to confirm exact build version
    Affected if Version is 7.0.15+, 7.2.9+, or 7.4.3+ (these are patched versions)

If FortiClient Mac is installed and the version falls within 7.0.0-7.0.14, 7.2.0-7.2.8, or 7.4.0-7.4.2, the environment is affected by this XPC authorization bypass vulnerability.

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 7.2.9 / 7.4.3 or later
Fixed in 7.2.97.4.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches from Fortinet for the affected FortiClient Mac versions. Upgrade to FortiClient 7.4.3 or later, 7.2.9 or later, and 7.0.15 or later.

Recommended fix High confidence

FortiClient 7.2.9 or later; FortiClient 7.4.3 or later (depending on your upgrade path preference)

  1. 1. Determine the current FortiClient version installed by opening FortiClient and navigating to Help > About, or by checking the installed applications list
  2. 2. If the installed version is 7.0.x, upgrade to FortiClient version 7.2.9 or later
  3. 3. If the installed version is 7.2.x, upgrade to FortiClient version 7.2.9 or later
  4. 4. If the installed version is 7.4.x, upgrade to FortiClient version 7.4.3 or later
  5. 5. Download the appropriate FortiClient installer from the official Fortinet support portal (support.fortinet.com) or FortiGuard (fortiguard.fortinet.com)
  6. 6. Close FortiClient completely before running the upgrade installer
  7. 7. Run the installer with administrative privileges and follow the on-screen prompts
  8. 8. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the fix is applied

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

Fix this in Forticlient 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

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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-2025-25251 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