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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2016-8495 Fortinet CVE debrief

CVE-2016-8495 affects Fortinet FortiManager and is described as an improper certificate validation issue in the FortiSandbox devices probing feature. A remote attacker able to position for a man-in-the-middle attack could spoof a trusted entity, risking confidentiality and integrity for management traffic.

Vendor
Fortinet
Product
Unknown
CVSS
HIGH 7.4
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-13
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-13
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

FortiManager administrators, Fortinet security operations teams, and defenders who rely on FortiSandbox integration or probing features should care most. Any environment running affected FortiManager firmware should review exposure and patch status promptly.

Technical summary

The NVD record describes an improper certificate validation weakness that allows a remote attacker to spoof a trusted entity through the FortiSandbox devices probing feature. The official CVSS vector is CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N, indicating network reachability, high attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction, and primary impact to confidentiality and integrity. NVD also maps the issue to CWE-200.

Defensive priority

High for affected FortiManager deployments, especially where FortiSandbox probing is enabled or management traffic is exposed.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Upgrade FortiManager to a vendor-fixed release referenced by Fortinet’s FG-IR-16-055 advisory.
  • Inventory FortiManager instances and compare installed firmware against the affected versions listed in the NVD record.
  • Review whether FortiSandbox devices probing features are required in your environment and restrict access to management interfaces accordingly.
  • Monitor for anomalous certificate validation behavior or unexpected trust-chain changes in FortiManager-related traffic.

Evidence notes

CVE published date supplied in the record is 2017-02-13, with NVD modified on 2026-05-13. The supplied description states FortiManager 5.0.6 through 5.2.7 and 5.4.0 through 5.4.1 are affected, while the NVD CPE criteria list a broader set of vulnerable firmware entries across 5.0.3-5.0.11, 5.2.0-5.2.7, and 5.4.0-5.4.1. This debrief uses only the supplied official record and linked vendor/NVD references; no KEV entry was supplied.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2016-8495 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8495

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2016-8495 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8495

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.