CVE-2018-13379
An Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ("Path Traversal") in Fortinet FortiOS 6.0.0 to 6.0.4, 5.6.3 to 5.6.7 and 5.4.6 to 5.4.12 and FortiProxy 2.0.0, 1.2.0 to 1.2.8, 1.1.0 to 1.1.6, 1.0.0 to 1.0.7 under SSL VPN web portal allows an unauthenticated attacker to download system files via special crafted HTTP resource requests.
- CVSS
- 9.1Criticalscored by the publisher (CNA)
- Exploited in the wild
- Yes, in CISA KEV since 3 Nov 2021CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 3 May 2022known use in ransomware campaignspublic exploit code
- EPSS
- > 99.9%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.1% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
- Fix
- Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
- Published
- 4 Jun 2019analysed here 12 Nov 2026
Do first. Apply updates per vendor instructions. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)
Summary
Triage
The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.
Affected products
| Product | Affected versions | Vendor says fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Fortinet Fortinet FortiOS, FortiProxy | FortiOS 6.0.0 to 6.0.4, 5.6.3 to 5.6.7 and 5.4.6 to 5.4.12, FortiProxy 2.0.0, 1.2.0 to 1.2.8, 1.1.0 to 1.1.6, 1.0.0 to 1.0.7Vendor says fixed in: not stated |
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.
Products named in our analysis
- fortinet:fortiproxy
- fortinet:fortios
Fix and mitigation
WAF and other mitigations
Can a WAF block it? Yes. Path traversal sends `../` sequences in the request, which WAF rules catch, including the common encodings. Azure WAF also publishes a rule written for this CVE.
Azure WAF · 1 rule
- 99001008 · Critical - 5
Also consider: canonical path validation
Based on WAF vendor rules published for this CVE. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Remediation steps (AI-written)
Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
Exploitation evidence
- CISA KEV catalog
- Listed since 3 Nov 2021. Known use in ransomware campaigns.
- CISA due date
- 3 May 2022, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
- CISA required action
- Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- Public exploit code
- Yes: 2 on Exploit-DB · 1 Metasploit module · 14 GitHub proofs of concept · 1 Nuclei template
- CISA SSVC
- exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact partialAssessed by CISA 23 Oct 2024 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.
Exploit-DB
Metasploit
- auxiliary/gather/fortios_vpnssl_traversal_creds_leakauxiliary, rank normal
Nuclei
- Fortinet FortiOS - Credentials Disclosuredetection template, critical
GitHub proofs of concept
- milo2012/CVE-2018-13379253 stars
- Blazz3/cve2018-13379-nmap-script12 stars
- Zeop-CyberSec/fortios_vpnssl_traversal_leak9 stars
- B1anda0/CVE-2018-133799 stars
and 10 more repositories
Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.
Timeline
- 4 Jun 2019Published
- 11 Aug 2019First public exploit or proof of concept67 days (about 2 months) later
- 3 Nov 2021Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)815 days (about 2 years) later
- 3 May 2022CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)181 days (about 6 months) later
- 23 Oct 2024CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active905 days (about 2 years) later
- 21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated363 days (about 12 months) later
- 12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com387 days (about 1 year) later
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
| Metric | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Attack vector | NetworkReachable over the internet or any routable network. | Reachable over the internet or any routable network. |
| Attack complexity | LowRepeatable attack, no special conditions. | Repeatable attack, no special conditions. |
| Privileges required | NoneThe attacker needs no prior access. | The attacker needs no prior access. |
| User interaction | NoneNo victim action needed. | No victim action needed. |
| Scope | UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component. | Impact stays within the vulnerable component. |
| Confidentiality | HighTotal data disclosure possible. | Total data disclosure possible. |
| Integrity | NoneNo unauthorised modification. | No unauthorised modification. |
| Availability | HighFull outage possible. | Full outage possible. |
Common questions
Is CVE-2018-13379 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2018-13379 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2018-13379?
CVE-2018-13379 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.1. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2018-13379?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2018-13379. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2018-13379 affect?
CVE-2018-13379 affects fortinet:fortiproxy, fortinet:fortios. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
References
3 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.
Other links (3)
- fortiguard.com /advisory/FG-IR-18-384
- fortiguard.com /psirt/FG-IR-20-233
- cisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-13379
Where the data on this page comes from
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Exploit-DB: published exploits
- Metasploit Framework: exploit and scanner modules
- Nuclei templates: detection templates
- PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.
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