Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2016-8491

The presence of a hardcoded account named 'core' in Fortinet FortiWLC allows attackers to gain unauthorized read/write access via a remote shell.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.1, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from fortinet organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2017, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2017-02-01T17:59:00.153

Last Modified

2025-04-20T01:37:25.860

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 9.1 (CRITICAL)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:N

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: NONE

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

9.2

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-798

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Hardware	fortinet	fortiwlc	7.0-9-1	Yes
Hardware	fortinet	fortiwlc	7.0-10-0	Yes
Hardware	fortinet	fortiwlc	8.1-2-0	Yes
Hardware	fortinet	fortiwlc	8.1-3-2	Yes
Hardware	fortinet	fortiwlc	8.2-4-0	Yes

References

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94186 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-16-065 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94186 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-16-065 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For fortinet's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.