# CVE-2016-7561: Information disclosure in n/a

> Administrators can read sensitive user credentials from the pam.log file in Fortinet FortiWLC wireless controllers.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Oct 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-874w-4q4h-wg36

## What is CVE-2016-7561?

CVE-2016-7561 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 5 Oct 2016. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Fortinet FortiWLC 6.1-2-29 and earlier, 7.0-9-1, 7.0-10-0, 8.0-5-0, 8.1-2-0, and 8.2-4-0 allow administrators to obtain sensitive user credentials by reading the pam.log file.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-7561?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Fortinet Fortiwlc.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-7561?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-7561 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-7561 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-7561 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2017-17539](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17539/): Hardcoded credentials in FortiWLC (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-17540](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17540/): Hardcoded credentials in FortiWLC (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-7560](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7560/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-8491](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8491/): Hardcoded credentials in Fortinet FortiWLC (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2021-42758](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42758/): Privilege escalation in Fortinet FortiWLC (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-7561 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-7561 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 5 Oct 2016. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-7561 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7561/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7561/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-7561
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-7561
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-7561

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7561/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.