CVE-2022-22239: Junos OS Evolved: The ssh CLI command always runs as root which can lead to privilege escalation

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2022-10-18 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-250

Description

An Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerability in Management Daemon (mgd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved allows a locally authenticated attacker with low privileges to escalate their privileges on the device and potentially remote systems. This vulnerability allows a locally authenticated attacker with access to the ssh operational command to escalate their privileges on the system to root, or if there is user interaction on the local device to potentially escalate privileges on a remote system to root. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved: All versions prior to 20.4R3-S5-EVO; 21.1-EVO versions prior to 21.1R3-EVO; 21.2-EVO versions prior to 21.2R2-S1-EVO, 21.2R3-EVO; 21.3-EVO versions prior to 21.3R2-EVO. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS.

Affected products

Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved: before 20.4; 20.4, 20.4-r1, 20.4-r1-s1, 20.4-r1-s2, 20.4-r2, 20.4-r2-s1 (+19) — fixed in 20.4

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved 20.4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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