CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-28966 — Juniper Junos Os Evolved security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

An Incorrect Default Permissions vulnerability in Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved allows a low-privileged local attacker with shell access to modify existing files or execute commands as root. The issue is caused by improper file and directory permissions on certain system files, allowing an attacker with access to these files and folders to inject CLI commands as root. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved: All versions prior to 20.4R3-S5-EVO; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-EVO; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R2-EVO.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2023-04-17
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-276

Affected products

  • juniper / junos_os_evolved
  • juniper / junos_os_evolved / 20.4

Showing 2 representative product identities from 24 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

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

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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