# CVE-2021-36171: Weak cryptography in Fortinet FortiPortal

> Remote attackers can predict password reset tokens due to weak randomness, potentially taking over user accounts in FortiPortal.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:U/RC:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Mar 2022
- **Updated:** 25 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p7rc-qmr8-gxr8

## What is CVE-2021-36171?

CVE-2021-36171 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fortinet FortiPortal, published on 1 Mar 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The use of a cryptographically weak pseudo-random number generator in the password reset feature of FortiPortal before 6.0.6 may allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to predict parts of or the whole newly generated password within a given time frame.

Weakness: CWE-338 (Use of Cryptographically Weak Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG))

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-36171?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Fortinet Fortiportal.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-36171?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-36171 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-36171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-36171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fortinet FortiPortal

- [CVE-2021-32590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32590/): SQL injection in Fortinet FortiPortal (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2021-32588](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32588/): Hardcoded credentials in Fortinet FortiPortal (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-7342](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7342/): Security feature bypass in Fortinet FortiPortal (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-7337](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7337/): Missing authorization in Fortinet FortiPortal (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2025-24470](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24470/): Path traversal in FortiPortal (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-36171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-36171 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fortinet FortiPortal, published on 1 Mar 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-36171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fortinet FortiPortal. 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-2021-36171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-36171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-36171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-36171

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.