Security Resilience

CVE-2018-13379

Path Traversal in Fortinet Fortios 5.4.6 – 5.4.13

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRansomware-linkedPath Traversal
Published
04 June 2019
Modified
24 October 2025
KEV Added
03 November 2021
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.99 100.0th percentile
Risk Priority 93 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2018-13379 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortios. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 0.0% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2018-13379 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) affecting the SSL VPN web portal in Fortinet FortiOS versions 6.0.0 through 6.0.4, 5.6.3 through 5.6.7, and 5.4.6 through 5.4.12, as well as FortiProxy versions 2.0.0, 1.2.0 through 1.2.8, 1.1.0 through 1.1.6, and 1.0.0 through 1.0.7. The flaw permits specially crafted HTTP resource requests to bypass directory restrictions and access files outside the intended web portal scope.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue over the network without credentials or user interaction to download arbitrary system files, resulting in high confidentiality and availability impact as reflected in its CVSS 9.1 score.

FortiGuard advisories FG-IR-18-384 and FG-IR-20-233 provide official guidance and patches for the affected Fortinet products. The vulnerability appears in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, confirming observed real-world exploitation.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

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…

more

web portal allows an unauthenticated attacker to download system files via special crafted HTTP resource requests.

CWE(s)
CWE-22
KEV Date Added
03 November 2021

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

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Top Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities | CISA
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Top Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities | CISA
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MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1018 Remote System Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of other systems by IP address, hostname, or other logical identifier on a network that may be used for Lateral Movement from the current system.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-41328Same product: Fortinet Fortiosboth on KEV
CVE-2025-61624Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2024-48884Same product: Fortinet Fortios
CVE-2024-21753Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2019-11510Same product class: VPN / SSL gatewayboth on KEV
CVE-2019-19781Same product class: VPN / SSL gatewayboth on KEV
CVE-2020-8195Same product class: VPN / SSL gatewayboth on KEV
CVE-2024-2552Same product class: VPN / SSL gateway
CVE-2024-33502Same vendor: Fortinet
CVE-2023-47541Same vendor: Fortinet

Affected Assets

fortinet
fortiproxy
2.0.0 · ≤ 1.2.9
fortinet
fortios
5.4.6 — 5.4.13 · 5.6.3 — 5.6.8 · 6.0.0 — 6.0.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-22

Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
blocks

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References