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Full vulnerability report · 2022
CVE-2021-44168High confidence

Fortinet FortiOS Arbitrary File Download

Fortinet · FortiOS

3.3LowCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Protect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2021-12-24 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityLowOperational priority:Critical, raised 3 bands.upgradedsince 10 Dec 2021

Evidence used

  • CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
  • Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
  • EPSS is 0.86% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Fortinet FortiOS and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  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 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 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-2021-31018

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in the "execute restore src-vis" command of FortiOS before 7.0.3 may allow a local authenticated attacker to download arbitrary files on the device via specially crafted update packages.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 10 Dec 2021. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
3.3 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionProtect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2021-12-24 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

Fortinet FortiOS "execute restore src-vis" downloads code without integrity checking, allowing an attacker to arbitrarily download files.

What

Fortinet FortiOS "execute restore src-vis" downloads code without integrity checking, allowing an attacker to arbitrarily download files.

Why

The product downloads source code or an executable from a remote location and executes the code without sufficiently verifying the origin and integrity of the code.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

Fortinet FortiOS "execute restore src-vis" downloads code without integrity checking, allowing an attacker to arbitrarily download files.

Why

The product downloads source code or an executable from a remote location and executes the code without sufficiently verifying the origin and integrity of the code.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

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.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-12-10.

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
local access → Download of Code Without Integrity Check → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
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-494 ↗

CWE-494: Download of Code Without Integrity Check. The product downloads source code or an executable from a remote location and executes the code without sufficiently verifying the origin and integrity of the code.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N/E:P/RL:U/RC:C

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.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.CNoneConfidentiality impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ILowIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
CWE-494CISA KEV
A

Official authority intelligence

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

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-31018Known-exploited evidence recorded

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in the "execute restore src-vis" command of FortiOS before 7.0.3 may allow a local authenticated attacker to download arbitrary files on the device via specially crafted update packages.

Official EUVD record ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20220105Security Bulletin 05 Jan 2022

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 05 Jan 2022, published on 5 January 2022. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2021-AVI-927Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Fortinet

d?id=CVE-2021-42759 Référence CVE CVE-2021-42760 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-42760 Référence CVE CVE-2021-43063 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43063 Référence CVE CVE-2021-43064 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43064 Référence CVE CVE-2021-43065 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43065 Référence CVE CVE-2021-43067 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43067 Référence CVE CVE-2021-43068 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43068 Référence CVE CVE-2021-43071 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43071 Référence CVE CVE-2021-43204 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43204 Référence CVE CVE-2021-44168 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-44168 Gestion détaillée du document le 08 décembre 2021 Version initiale Alertes Avis Bulletins d’actualités Mentions légales Conditions générales À propos Contact cyber.gouv.fr service-public.fr legifrance.gouv.fr info.gouv.fr france.fr info.gouv.fr/risques Premier Ministre / Secrétariat Général de la Défense et de la Sécurité Nationale / Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d'information

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2021-018454FortiOS におけるダウンロードしたコードの完全性検証不備に関する脆弱性

FortiOS には、ダウンロードしたコードの完全性検証不備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.
Fix not verified
Affected
Fortinet FortiOS: FortiOS before 7.0.3
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 4 Jan 2022 · Last source change 21 Oct 2025, 23:15 UTC · CWE-494 · Download of Code Without Integrity Check

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-31018
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched

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

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    FortiOS before 7.0.3 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    Fortinet FortiOS: FortiOS before 7.0.3 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-31018↗CISA KEV record↗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-2021-44168 · cve.blacktree.nl