Fortinet FortiOS Use of Hard-Coded Credentials Vulnerability

[ Why it matters ]Priority signals

• Exploited in the wild: on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list since 2025-06-25
• Known to be used in ransomware campaigns

[ Description ]Official description

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).

CISA: Fortinet FortiOS contains a use of hard-coded credentials vulnerability that could allow an attacker to cipher sensitive data in FortiOS configuration backup file via knowledge of the hard-coded key.

[ Fixes ]Fixes and patches

CISA required action (US federal deadline 16 Jul 2025): Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

No fix or interim patch is linked from our sources yet. Check the vendor references below and limit exposure of affected systems until a fix is available.

[ References ]References

• fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-19-007MitigationVendor Advisory
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalogUS Government Resource