NVD / CVE Program· CNA fortinet

CVE-2021-36168: A Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') in Fortinet FortiPortal 6.x before 6.0.5, FortiPortal 5.3.x…

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.1% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 66% 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.

Low priority for now. 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 · FIRST EPSS

A Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') in Fortinet FortiPortal 6.x before 6.0.5, FortiPortal 5.3.x before 5.3.6 and any FortiPortal before 6.2.5 allows authenticated attacker to disclosure information via crafted GET request with malicious parameter values.

Path traversal

BDU:2023-00089

Published: Aug 4, 2021
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
EPSS: 1.1% · 66th percentile
CWE: CWE-22

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 0 / 30 · 1.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD: 6.5
CNA · fortinet: 6.5; agree

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:P/RL:X/RC:C

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
No public exploit code on record
No fixed version yet

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

Is your version affected? Check it

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.

Vendor	Product	CPE
fortinet	fortiportal	cpe:2.3:a:fortinet:fortiportal

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 Fortinet FortiPortal
- FortiPortal 6.0.4, 6.0.3, 6.0.2, 6.0.1, 6.0.0, 5.3.5, 5.3.4, 5.3.3, 5.3.2, 5.3.1, 5.3.0, 5.2.5, 5.2.4, 5.2.3, 5.2.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.0, 5.1.2, 5.1.1, 5.1.0, 5.0.3, 5.0.2, 5.0.1, 5.0.0, 4.2.2, 4.2.1, 4.1.2,affected

Affected versions

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

fortinet fortiportalbefore 5.2.6
fortinet fortiportal5.3.0 and later · before 5.3.6
fortinet fortiportal6.0.0 and later · before 6.0.5

Same product

fortinet: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2021-32588A use of hard-coded credentials (CWE-798) vulnerability in FortiPortal versions 5.2.5 and below, 5.3.5 and below, 6.0.4 and below, versions…
40Plan
CVE-2017-7342A weak password recovery process vulnerability in Fortinet FortiPortal versions 4.0.0 and below allows an attacker to execute unauthorized…
39Monitor
CVE-2017-7337An improper Access Control vulnerability in Fortinet FortiPortal versions 4.0.0 and below allows an attacker to interact with unauthorized…
36Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2021-32590Aug 4, 2021 · Multiple improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command vulnerabilities in FortiPortal 6.0.0 through 6.0.4, 5.3.0…
35Monitor
← EarlierCVE-2021-32594Aug 4, 2021 · An unrestricted file upload vulnerability in the web interface of FortiPortal 6.0.0 through 6.0.4, 5.3.0 through 5.3.5, 5.2.0 through…
32Monitor
Later →CVE-2021-32596Aug 4, 2021 · A use of one-way hash with a predictable salt vulnerability in the password storing mechanism of FortiPortal 6.0.0 through 6.04 may allow…
30Monitor

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

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

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.

No dated events beyond publication.

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

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-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

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

A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-22 class

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

Vulnerable

1const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);
2res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

1const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);
2if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) {
3  return res.sendStatus(400);
4}
5res.sendFile(file);

Attack context

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

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log (0)

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

References

fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-21-085

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

All records