Technical impact
The vulnerability arises from a hard‑coded cryptographic key in FortiClientEMS versions 7.4.0 through 7.4.5. This flaw allows an attacker to decrypt database dumps, potentially exposing sensitive information stored within the client database. The primary impact is the compromise of data confidentiality, as the decryption of the database would reveal user or system data that was intended to remain protected.
Affected Systems
Affected systems include Fortinet FortiClientEMS on all impacted releases: version 7.4.0, 7.4.1, 7.4.3, 7.4.4, and 7.4.5. Users running any of these versions should verify their deployment and assess whether the local database is at risk of being exposed.
Risk and Exploitability
The CVSS score of 5.2 indicates medium severity. The EPSS score is less than 1 %, signifying an extremely low exploitation probability, and the vulnerability is not included in the CISA KEV catalog. Based on the description, an attacker would need to acquire a database dump and use the hard‑coded key to decrypt it; thus local or privileged access is likely required. The confidentiality impact warrants prompt remediation through the vendor update.
