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CVE-2019-6693· NVD / CVE Program· CNA fortinet

Use of a hard-coded cryptographic key to cipher sensitive data in FortiOS configuration backup file may allow an attacker with access to the

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Plan (action score 58/100)

  • CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (Jun 25, 2025); it is known to be used in ransomware campaigns. Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Jul 16, 2025.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 6.6% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 93.7% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Add it to your regular patch cycle. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS

Use of a hard-coded cryptographic key to cipher sensitive data in FortiOS configuration backup file may allow an attacker with access to the backup file to decipher the sensitive data, via knowledge of the hard-coded key. The aforementioned sensitive data includes users' passwords (except the administrator's password), private keys' passphrases and High Availability password (when set).

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.1KEVWeaponized No fix recorded
Published
Nov 21, 2019
Updated
Aug 4, 2026
EPSS
6.6% · 94th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

58

Plan

Add it to your regular patch cycle.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
2 / 30 · 6.6%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Jun 25, 2025. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for government agencies: Jul 16, 2025.

Known to be used in ransomware campaigns.

Get told when this record changes

  • In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2019-6693

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
fortinetfortios

Using fortios? Add it to your stack and be the first to know about CVEs like this one. (VPN gateway)

Add to my stack

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • fortinet fortiosup to 5.6.10 inclusive
  • fortinet fortios6.0.0 and later · up to 6.0.6 inclusive
  • fortinet fortios6.2.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (fortinet). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Fortinet FortiGate

    • 5.6.9 and below, 6.0.5 and below, 6.2.0affected

Same product

fortinet: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2022-42475A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability [CWE-122] in FortiOS SSL-VPN 7.2.0 through 7.2.2, 7.0.0 through 7.0.8, 6.4.0 through 6.4.10, 6.2.KEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2020-12812An improper authentication vulnerability in SSL VPN in FortiOS 6.4.0, 6.2.0 to 6.2.3, 6.0.9 and below may result in a user being able to logKEV
    83Now
  • CVE-2025-25249A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 7.6.0 through 7.6.3, FortiOS 7.4.0 through 7.4.8, FortiOS 7.2.0 through 7.2.1KEV
    70This week
  • CVE-2025-68686An Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability [CWE-200] vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS 7.6.0 through 7.6.1,KEV
    62This week
  • CVE-2019-5591A Default Configuration vulnerability in FortiOS may allow an unauthenticated attacker on the same subnet to intercept sensitive informationKEV
    62This week
  • CVE-2022-41328A improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory vulnerability ('path traversal') [CWE-22] in Fortinet FortiOS version 7.2.0 thKEV
    61This week

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×4

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:82021-12-21
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:112023-06-30
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:302023-12-08
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:12025-08-26

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Published
  2. First PoC+760 d
  3. CISA KEV+2042 d
  4. TodayOct 15, 2026+2520 d
EPSS, last 120 days+1% in 7 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-798 · Use of Hard-coded Credentials

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

nvd-primary

Root cause

For convenience in support or manufacturing, an account that is identical on every device is embedded in the software. Credentials learned from one device work on all of them.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-798 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const SUPPORT_USER = "support";const SUPPORT_PASS = "hardcoded-password";

Fixed

ts
const creds = await provisioning.deviceCredentials(deviceId);if (creds.mustRotate) await forcePasswordChange(deviceId);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records