Zero-day vulnerability in Fortinet FortiClient for Windows

Unprotected storage of credentials

Not patched

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2024111813 - Unprotected storage of credentials in FortiClient for Windows

Vulnerable component: Fortinet FortiClient for Windows

CVE-ID:

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:H/RL:U/RC:C

CWE-ID: CWE-256 - Unprotected Storage of Credentials

Description:

The vulnerability allows a local user to gain access to VPN client credentials.

The vulnerability exists due to application stores user's VPN credentials in plain text in memory after establishing the VPN connection. A local user or a malicious application can retrieve these credentials from the process memory and use them later to connect to the Fortinet VPN server.

Note, the vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild by the DEEPDATA malware.

External links:

https://www.volexity.com/blog/2024/11/15/brazenbamboo-weaponizes-forticlient-vulnerability-to-steal-vpn-credentials-via-deepdata/

About zero-day vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerability is an undisclosed vulnerability in software that hackers can exploit to compromise computer programs, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, penetrate networks, etc. We consider vulnerability a zero-day when there is no solution provided from software vendor and the vulnerability is being actively exploited by malicious actors.

Zero-day candidate is a potential zero-day vulnerability in software which might have been used in targeted attacks, however there is no evidence to support this suggestion.