CVE-2019-6693Fortinet FortiOS Use of Hard-Coded Credentials Vulnerability
CVE-2019-6693 is a hard-coded credentials in Fortinet FortiOS, rated medium (6.5 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
Credentials are built into the product, so anyone who knows them can sign in to every install.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker sign in with credentials the vendor shipped or stored unprotected.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-06-25: it is being exploited in the wild. CISA links it to ransomware campaigns. EPSS estimates a 6.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 94% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2025-07-16.
- No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place Fortinet FortiOS runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
- While there is no fix, review who holds accounts that can reach it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
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).
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Network edge devices: VPNs, firewalls, routers and gateways. They sit between the internet and internal networks, so a flaw in one is often the first step into everything behind it.
- Operating systems on servers, workstations or devices. Everything on the host inherits the flaw.
- Credentials kept in code, configuration, images or firmware. The flaw sits between a stored secret and anyone who can read where it is kept.
Trust boundaries in play
- Authenticated network access. An account is needed, so exposure follows who can sign in: customers, partners or staff.
- Between a stored secret and anyone who can read where it is kept. An attacker who crosses it can sign in with credentials the vendor shipped or stored unprotected.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Fortinet FortiOS run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.