CVE-2019-6693
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).
do firstApply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Can a WAF block it? No. The attack requires access to a backup file containing sensitive data, which is not delivered via HTTP but through other means such as file access or network file transfer. Since the malicious input is not part of an HTTP request, a web application firewall cannot filter or block it.
Also consider: patch · rotate
Based on an AI reading of the CVE description, and no vendor rule found yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Is CVE-2019-6693 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2019-6693 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-2019-6693?
CVE-2019-6693 is rated Medium with a CVSS score of 6.5. 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-2019-6693?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2019-6693. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2019-6693 affect?
CVE-2019-6693 affects 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.
- affected5.6.9 and below
- affected6.0.5 and below
- affected6.2.0
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.
public exploits
Unvetted proof-of-concept code on GitHub: 4 GitHub proofs of concept
- saladandonionrings/cve-2019-6693 · 30 ★
- synacktiv/CVE-2020-9289 · 11 ★
- gquere/CVE-2019-6693 · 8 ★
- Real4XoR/CVE-2019-6693 · 1 ★
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.
cisa ssvc
- exploitation
- active
- automatable
- no
- technical impact
- partial
Assessed by CISA 23 Jun 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3).
timeline
- 21 Nov 2019Published
- 21 Dec 2021First proof-of-concept repository on GitHub (unvetted) · 760 days (about 2 years) later
- 23 Jun 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active · 1,280 days (about 4 years) later
- 25 Jun 2025Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild) · 2 days later
- 16 Jul 2025CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies) · 21 days later
- 4 Aug 2026CVE record last updated · 384 days (about 1 year) later
- 2 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · 91 days (about 3 months) later
- Linkfortiguard.com /advisory/FG-IR-19-007
- Linkcisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-6693
sources
- 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
- 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.