CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-1615 — The factory configuration for vMX installations, as shipped, includes default credentials for the root account

Critical CVSS 9.8

The factory configuration for vMX installations, as shipped, includes default credentials for the root account. Without proper modification of these default credentials by the administrator, an attacker could exploit these credentials and access the vMX instance without authorization. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3-S2 on vMX; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R3-S3 on vMX; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R2-S5, 17.3R3-S7 on vMX; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S9, 17.4R3 on vMX; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S9 on vMX; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2-S7, 18.2R3-S3 on vMX; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D420, 18.2X75-D60 on vMX; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R1-S7, 18.3R2-S3, 18.3R3-S1 on vMX; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R1-S5, 18.4R2-S3, 18.4R3 on vMX; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R1-S4, 19.1R2, 19.1R3 on vMX; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S3, 19.2R2 on vMX; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R1-S1, 19.3R2 on vMX.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-04-08
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-798

Affected products

  • juniper / junos / 17.1

Showing 1 representative product identities from 122 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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