# CVE-2021-36189: Information disclosure in Fortinet FortiClientEMS

> Attackers can disclose sensitive information by inspecting decrypted browser data due to missing encryption in FortiClient EMS.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:H/RL:U/RC:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 25 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v99f-7jp8-w888

## What is CVE-2021-36189?

CVE-2021-36189 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fortinet FortiClientEMS, published on 9 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A missing encryption of sensitive data in Fortinet FortiClientEMS version 7.0.1 and below, version 6.4.4 and below allows attacker to information disclosure via inspecting browser decrypted data

Weakness: CWE-311 (Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-36189?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Fortinet Forticlient Enterprise Management Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-36189?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-36189 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-36189 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-36189 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fortinet FortiClientEMS

- [CVE-2023-48788](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-48788/): Fortinet FortiClient EMS SQL Injection (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-45581](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-45581/): Privilege escalation in FortiClientEMS (high 7.9)
- [CVE-2024-33508](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-33508/): Command injection in FortiClientEMS (medium 6.9)
- [CVE-2021-41030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41030/): Auth bypass in Fortinet FortiClientEMS (medium 5.4)
- [CVE-2020-15940](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15940/): Cross-site scripting in Fortinet FortiClientEMS (medium 4.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-36189 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-36189 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fortinet FortiClientEMS, published on 9 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-36189 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fortinet FortiClientEMS. 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-2021-36189/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36189/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-36189
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-36189
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-36189

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36189/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.