A few weeks ago, I was asked to log in to one of our customers' systems to retrieve some information for another department at my company. This particular customer uses FortiClient for VPN access; that particular tool was not installed on my laptop or my virtual machine, so I decided to download it from the FortiClient website and install it on my VM.
The installation process was straightforward, but after the software finished installing, my virtual machine slowed to an absolute crawl—100% CPU usage and all of that. My coworkers reported having encountered no problems using the same tool, so perhaps there is some other program installed on my VM that's creating a conflict.
At any rate, after spending some time trying unsuccessfully to figure out what was causing the problem, I decided to uninstall FortiClient. I proceeded to the Programs and Features section under Control Panel in Windows, clicked on the FortiClient program listing, and…discovered that there was no uninstall button. Apps & features did have an uninstall button, but it was grayed out, so that was a no-go, too.
Visit the post for more. I have resolved this issue on my laptop (Note: Win 8.1) After creating the VPN connection in FotiClient, a network connection is created called fortissl. When the 'VPN before logon' feature of FortiClient Windows is enabled (disabled by default), and when the server certificate is not valid, it is possible for an attacker without a user account on the targeted Windows workstation to obtain SYSTEM level privileges, via exploiting the Windows 'security alert' dialog thereby popping up. A hacker has now leaked the credentials of almost 50,000 Fortinet SSL VPNs vulnerable to CVE-2018-13379. Exploits for these VPNs had been posted over the weekend on hacker forums, as reported.
Thus began my multi-hour quest to try to uninstall FortiClient. If you're looking for a quick explanation of how I uninstalled the software, jump ahead to my conclusion; otherwise, if you want a list of all the things that I tried that didn't work, read on.
What didn't work
I generally log in to my VM (and all of my Windows systems, for that matter) as a standard user, entering my administrator credentials whenever a UAC prompt appears. I thought maybe that was the issue, so I tried logging in to Windows using my administrator credentials instead, but encountered the same problem.
Searching on Google also turned up some suggestions that FortiClient cannot be running at the time you try to uninstall it, so I made sure to exit before opening Programs and Features and Apps & features. Again, though, I found no uninstall button.
At any rate, after spending some time trying unsuccessfully to figure out what was causing the problem, I decided to uninstall FortiClient. I proceeded to the Programs and Features section under Control Panel in Windows, clicked on the FortiClient program listing, and…discovered that there was no uninstall button. Apps & features did have an uninstall button, but it was grayed out, so that was a no-go, too.
Visit the post for more. I have resolved this issue on my laptop (Note: Win 8.1) After creating the VPN connection in FotiClient, a network connection is created called fortissl. When the 'VPN before logon' feature of FortiClient Windows is enabled (disabled by default), and when the server certificate is not valid, it is possible for an attacker without a user account on the targeted Windows workstation to obtain SYSTEM level privileges, via exploiting the Windows 'security alert' dialog thereby popping up. A hacker has now leaked the credentials of almost 50,000 Fortinet SSL VPNs vulnerable to CVE-2018-13379. Exploits for these VPNs had been posted over the weekend on hacker forums, as reported.
Thus began my multi-hour quest to try to uninstall FortiClient. If you're looking for a quick explanation of how I uninstalled the software, jump ahead to my conclusion; otherwise, if you want a list of all the things that I tried that didn't work, read on.
What didn't work
I generally log in to my VM (and all of my Windows systems, for that matter) as a standard user, entering my administrator credentials whenever a UAC prompt appears. I thought maybe that was the issue, so I tried logging in to Windows using my administrator credentials instead, but encountered the same problem.
Searching on Google also turned up some suggestions that FortiClient cannot be running at the time you try to uninstall it, so I made sure to exit before opening Programs and Features and Apps & features. Again, though, I found no uninstall button.
Other comments that I read suggested that clicking the repair button, which was available in the Programs and Features window, might put FortiClient into a state where I could subsequently uninstall it. I tried that multiple times, and the uninstall button even showed up once or twice; however, when I then tried to click the uninstall button, a prompt informed me that the system had to be restarted before I could uninstall the program, and following a reboot, the uninstall button would disappear again.
Finally, I found references to a program for uninstalling FortiClient, but it is reportedly available only to FortiClient customers who have access to a restricted customer portal that requires login credentials. Since I simply downloaded the software from their website, I did not have access to that program.
What did work
Forticlient Windows 10 Issues Update
After several hours of unsuccessful attempts to rid my virtual machine of the FortiClient software, I finally contacted FortiClient's support team to explain the problems I had encountered and ask how exactly I could go about uninstalling the software.
The answer? Simply run the installer program from their website again.
I tried that, and lo and behold, the installer did indeed give me the option to uninstall. It turned out to be an incredibly easy solution, and I am very grateful that they were able to point me in the right direction, but I do wonder what the harm would be in simply having the uninstall button be visible and active on the Programs and Features and Apps & features sections in Windows.
Forticlient Windows 10 Issues Today
My other takeaway is that I need to make a backup of my virtual machine files. If I run into a similar situation in the future, I should simply be able to restore those files and put my VM back in its original state rather than having to wrestle with some piece of software.
