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Full vulnerability report · 2017
CVE-2017-14184High confidence

Fortinet, Inc. FortiClient for Windows: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Fortinet, Inc. · FortiClient for Windows

8.8HighCVSS 3.0
Recommended action
Within 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityHighOperational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • EPSS is 2.08% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Fortinet, Inc. FortiClient for Windows and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 30 daysRemediation target: Within 180 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2017-5694

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

An Information Disclosure vulnerability in Fortinet FortiClient for Windows 5.6.0 and below versions, FortiClient for Mac OSX 5.6.0 and below versions and FortiClient SSLVPN Client for Linux 4.4.2334 and below versions allows regular users to see each other's VPN authentication credentials due to improperly secured storage locations.

What

An Information Disclosure vulnerability in Fortinet FortiClient for Windows 5.6.0 and below versions, FortiClient for Mac OSX 5.6.0 and below versions and FortiClient SSLVPN Client for Linux 4.4.2334 and below versions allows regular users to see each other's VPN authentication credentials due to improperly secured storage locations.

Why

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.

What

An Information Disclosure vulnerability in Fortinet FortiClient for Windows 5.6.0 and below versions, FortiClient for Mac OSX 5.6.0 and below versions and FortiClient SSLVPN Client for Linux 4.4.2334 and below versions allows regular users to see each other's VPN authentication credentials due to improperly secured storage locations.

Why

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor → obtain information outside the intended access boundary
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-200 ↗

CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor. The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
NetworkCWE-200
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AV17-193Fortinet Forticlient security update

CCIRC is aware of a critical information disclosure vulnerability in Fortinet’s FortiClient.  Exploitation of this vulnerability may allow for unwanted disclosure of VPN authentication credentials, allowing a regular user to harvest other user’s encrypted credentials and decrypt them into plaintext using a hard coded key. Affected Versions: FortiClient for Windows: 5.6.0 and versions below FortiClient for Mac OSX 5.6.0 and versions below FortiClient SSLVPN Client for Linux 4.4.2334 and versions below CVE reference: CVE-2017-14184

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2017-AVI-453Vulnérabilité dans Fortinet FortiClient

Une vulnérabilité a été découverte dans Fortinet FortiClient. Elle permet à un attaquant de provoquer une atteinte à la confidentialité des données.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2017-011306Fortinet FortiClient における情報漏えいに関する脆弱性

Fortinet FortiClient には、情報漏えいに関する脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
Fixed
CCIRC recommends that system administrators test and deploy the vendor-released updates to affected applications accordingly. FortiClient for Windows: Upgrade to 5.6.1 FortiClient for Mac OSX: Upgrade to 5.6.1 FortiClient SSLVPN Client for Linux: Upgrade to 4.4.2335 released together with FortiOS 5.4.7 References: https://fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-17-214 http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2017/Dec/43 https://www.sec-consult.com/en/blog/advisories/vpn-credentials-disclosure-in-fortinet-forticlient/index.html https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2017-14184
Action
Apply the fixed release for the affected product branch as recorded by Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. Validate the exact product and build in the linked advisory before deployment.
Workaround
A mitigation or workaround reference is available from the source linked below; validate it against the affected product and version.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 15 Dec 2017 · Last source change 25 Oct 2024, 14:32 UTC · CWE-200 · Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2017-5694
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2017-5694 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.
    Before
    not recorded
    After
    {"euvdId":"EUVD-2017-5694"}
    ENISA EUVD ↗
  2. Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added mitigation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-214; added remediation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-214.
    Before
    no authoritative guidance recorded
    After
    mitigation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-214 · remediation: fortiguard.com/FG-IR-17-214
    fortiguard.com ↗
  3. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Mitigation available.
    Before
    Awaiting fix
    After
    Mitigation available
    fortiguard.com ↗
  4. SeveritySeverity changed from Unknown to High.
    Before
    Unknown
    After
    High
    NIST NVD ↗
  5. CVSS scoreCVSS score changed from not recorded to 8.8 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
    Before
    not recorded
    After
    8.8 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    NIST NVD ↗
  6. Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.
    CNA ↗
  7. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    5.6.0 and below; 4.4.2334 and below · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    5.6.0 and below; 4.4.2334 and below · Fixed: CCIRC recommends that system administrators test and deploy the vendor-released updates to affected applications accordingly. FortiClient for Windows: Upgrade to 5.6.1 FortiClient for Mac OSX: Upgrade to 5.6.1 FortiClient SSLVPN Client for Linux: Upgrade to 4.4.2335 released together with FortiOS 5.4.7 References: https://fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-17-214 http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2017/Dec/43 https://www.sec-consult.com/en/blog/advisories/vpn-credentials-disclosure-in-fortinet-forticlient/index.html https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2017-14184
    Canadian Centre for Cyber Security ↗
  8. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Mitigation available to Patch available.
    Before
    Mitigation available
    After
    Patch available
    Canadian Centre for Cyber Security ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Mitigation reference recorded
Fixed release recorded from official guidance
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2017-5694↗Canadian Centre for Cyber Security remediation guidance↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2017-14184 · cve.blacktree.nl