Privilege escalation in Juniper Junos OS

1) Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

EUVDB-ID: #VU105679

Risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 8.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2025-21590

CWE-ID: CWE-264 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to improperly imposed security restrictions. A local privileged user can compromise integrity of the device.

Note, the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Juniper Junos OS: 21.2R1-S1 - 24.2R1

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:21.2R3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:21.3R3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:21.4R3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:22.2R3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:22.3R3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:22.4R3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:23.2R2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:23.3R1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:23.4R1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:juniper_networks:juniper_junos_os:23.4R2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

http://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/china-nexus-espionage-targets-juniper-routers
http://supportportal.juniper.net/JSA93446
http://supportportal.juniper.net/s/article/2025-03-Reference-Advisory-The-RedPenguin-Malware-Incident?language=en_US

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

Yes. This vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.