Exploited

CVE-2021-44168

Fortinet FortiOS / FortiProxy (FortiGate) · Firewalls, VPNs and remote access

Fortinet FortiOS Arbitrary File Download

At a glance

Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on December 10, 2021.

Affected product: Fortinet FortiOS / FortiProxy (FortiGate) (category Firewalls, VPNs and remote access, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Fortinet FortiOS.

What should I do?

Apply the security update from Fortinet.

Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 14 days (due December 24, 2021). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.

Fortinet security advisories page (general page, not the advisory for this vulnerability)
The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2021-44168 on the NVD website.

Original text of the required action (CISA)

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Timeline

December 10, 2021 Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
December 24, 2021 CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies
January 4, 2022 Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)

The facts, with their sources

Exploitation confirmed: Yes, on December 10, 2021 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Ransomware: No known use to date That does not guarantee it is not being used: the information is not public. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Hunt for compromise: Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA required action: Apply the security update from Fortinet. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA deadline: December 24, 2021, 14 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Vulnerability published: January 4, 2022 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Product according to CISA: Fortinet FortiOS Filed by this site under “Firewalls, VPNs and remote access” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC

Severity and activity

7.8 / 10 CVSS severity: high

Score from the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

— Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)

FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

Description

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.

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

Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).

CERT-FR advisories

No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.

Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.

Sources for this page

CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).