CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-1618 — Juniper Junos security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 6.9

On Juniper Networks EX and QFX Series, an authentication bypass vulnerability may allow a user connected to the console port to login as root without any password. This issue might only occur in certain scenarios: • At the first reboot after performing device factory reset using the command “request system zeroize”; or • A temporary moment during the first reboot after the software upgrade when the device configured in Virtual Chassis mode. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on EX and QFX Series: 14.1X53 versions prior to 14.1X53-D53; 15.1 versions prior to 15.1R7-S4; 15.1X53 versions prior to 15.1X53-D593; 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R7-S4; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3-S1; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R3-S3; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R2-S5, 17.3R3-S6; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S9, 17.4R3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S8; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R1-S7, 18.3R2. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS 12.3.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.9 (2.0)
Published
2020-04-08
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-288, CWE-287

Affected products

  • juniper / junos / 14.1x53

Showing 1 representative product identities from 203 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

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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