What is CVE-2016-8491?

CVE-2016-8491 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Fortinet Fortiwlc, classified under Use of Hard-coded Credentials. CVSS score: 9.1/10. Published 2017-02-01.

How severe is CVE-2016-8491?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.1 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Fortinet Fortiwlc

CVE-2016-8491

The presence of a hardcoded account named 'core' in Fortinet FortiWLC allows attackers to gain unauthorized read/write access via a remote shell.

Published 2017-02-01 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.1 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.015 (73.5th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 74th percentile — 73.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.015 · newest: 0.015 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Fortinet Fortiwlc — versions 8.1-2-0, 7.0-9-1, 8.1-3-2
Fortinet Fortiwlc — versions 7.0-9-1, 7.0-10-0, 8.1-2-0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-798 — Use of Hard-coded Credentials

References

fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-16-065 (Vendor Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/94186 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-8491?: CVE-2016-8491 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Fortinet Fortiwlc, classified under Use of Hard-coded Credentials. CVSS score: 9.1/10. Published 2017-02-01.
How severe is CVE-2016-8491?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.1 out of 10.