Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2024-33504 is a medium-severity Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key (CWE-321) vulnerability in Fortinet Fortimanager. Its CVSS base score is 4.1 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Private Keys (T1552.004); ranked at the 21th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-12 (Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
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-2024-33504 is a use of hard-coded cryptographic key vulnerability (CWE-321) affecting FortiManager versions 7.6.0 through 7.6.1, 7.4.0 through 7.4.5, 7.2.0 through 7.2.9, all versions of 7.0, and all versions of 6.4. The flaw enables decryption of some secrets even when the 'private-data-encryption' setting is enabled. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N), indicating network accessibility, low attack complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, changed scope, low confidentiality impact, and no integrity or availability effects.
Exploitation requires an attacker to possess JSON API access permissions on the affected FortiManager instance. With network access and these elevated privileges, the attacker can decrypt sensitive secrets protected by the hard-coded key, potentially exposing configuration data or other confidential information stored in the system.
Mitigation guidance is available in the Fortinet PSIRT advisory at https://fortiguard.fortinet.com/psirt/FG-IR-24-094 and the Orange Cyberdefense security advisory at https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-pgc3-m5p5-4vc3.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-31242
Vulnerability Data
A use of hard-coded cryptographic key to encrypt sensitive data vulnerability [CWE-321] in FortiManager 7.6.0 through 7.6.1, 7.4.0 through 7.4.5, 7.2.0 through 7.2.9, 7.0 all versions, 6.4 all versions may allow an attacker with JSON API access permissions to decrypt…
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some secrets even if the 'private-data-encryption' setting is enabled.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requiring cryptographic keys to be established and managed according to defined requirements prevents developers from embedding static unchangeable keys.
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.
Secure-SDLC activities such as code review and secret scanning directly prevent embedding static keys.
Data-at-rest protection policies require proper key management and therefore discourage hard-coded keys.
Data-in-transit protection similarly depends on non-hard-coded keys for encryption.
Configuration baselines and reviews can prohibit hard-coded keys in deployed artifacts.
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.
Key-management controls that govern generation, rotation and protection of keys make the use of embedded hard-coded cryptographic keys less likely and easier to detect.