CVE-2023-44201: Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved: A local attacker can retrieve sensitive information and elevate privileges on the device to an authorized user.

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 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: 2023-10-13 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-732

Description

An Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource vulnerability in a specific file of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a local authenticated attacker to read configuration changes without having the permissions. When a user with the respective permissions commits a configuration change, a specific file is created. That file is readable even by users with no permissions to access the configuration. This can lead to privilege escalation as the user can read the password hash when a password change is being committed. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS * All versions prior to 20.4R3-S4; * 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4; * 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S2; * 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R2-S2, 21.3R3-S1; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2-S1, 21.4R3. Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved * All versions prior to 20.4R3-S4-EVO; * 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S2-EVO; * 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S2-EVO; * 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S1-EVO; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2-S2-EVO.

Affected products

Juniper Junos OS: before 20.4; 20.4, 20.4-r1, 20.4-r1-s1, 20.4-r2, 20.4-r2-s1, 20.4-r2-s2 (+34) — fixed in 20.4
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 (+38) — fixed in 20.4

How to fix

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

References

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