# CVE-2021-36177: Missing authorization in n/a

> An attacker on the same VLAN can access the FortiAuthenticator database without authentication due to improper access control in the HA service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N/E:F/RL:U/RC:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Feb 2022
- **Updated:** 22 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v8x4-gj4q-pwgq

## What is CVE-2021-36177?

CVE-2021-36177 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 2 Feb 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An improper access control vulnerability [CWE-284] in FortiAuthenticator HA service 6.3.2 and below, 6.2.x, 6.1.x, 6.0.x may allow an attacker on the same vlan as the HA management interface to make an unauthenticated direct connection to the FAC's database.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-36177?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Fortinet Fortiauthenticator.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-36177?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-36177 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-36177 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-36177 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2026-44277](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44277/): Missing authorization in FortiAuthenticator (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2013-6990](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6990/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2021-43067](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43067/): Information disclosure in Fortinet FortiAuthenticator (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2021-22124](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22124/): Denial of service in Fortinet FortiSandbox, FortiAuthenticator (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-1455](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1455/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-36177 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-36177 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 2 Feb 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-36177 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-2021-36177/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36177/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-36177
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-36177
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-36177

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36177/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.