How severe is CVE-2021-44168?

CVE-2021-44168 has a CVSS score of 3.3/10, rated LOW. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-44168?

Affected package information for CVE-2021-44168 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2021-44168?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2021-44168 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2021-44168 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 4 known exploit references for CVE-2021-44168, including 3 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2021-44168?

CVE-2021-44168 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.2%, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

Is CVE-2021-44168 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2021-44168 (Fortinet FortiOS Arbitrary File Download) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-12-10. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2021-12-24. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-44168?

CVE-2021-44168 is classified as CWE-494 (CWE-494). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2021-44168?

CVE-2021-44168 affects fortinet fortios. Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2021-44168 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-44168 was published on January 4, 2022 and was last updated on October 24, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2021-12-10 — agencies required to remediate by 2021-12-24

CVE-2021-44168

LOW

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in the "execute restore src-vis" command of FortiOS before 7.0.3 may allow a local authenticated attacker to download arbitrary…

Published

Jan 4, 2022

Updated

Oct 24, 2025

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

4 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk79th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in the "execute restore src-vis" command of FortiOS before 7.0.3 may allow a local authenticated attacker to download arbitrary files on the device via specially crafted update packages.

Affected Products

1 product · 4 configurations

fortiosfortinet

≥ 7.0.0 && < 7.0.3

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in the "execute…

fortiguard.comAPIDec 2021

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in the "execute…

cisa.govCISADec 2021

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in the "execute…

github.comGithubFeb 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-44168 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2021-44168 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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