CVE-2016-1280
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedPKId in Juniper Junos OS before 12.1X44-D52, 12.1X46 before 12.1X46-D37, 12.1X47 before 12.1X47-D30, 12.3 before 12.3R12, 12.3X48 before 12.3X48-D20, 13.3 before 13.3R10, 14.1 before 14.1R8, 14.1X53 before 14.1X53-D40, 14.2 before 14.2R7, 15.1 before 15.1R4, 15.1X49 before 15.1X49-D20, 15.1X53 before 15.1X53-D60, and 16.1 before 16.1R1 allow remote attackers to bypass an intended certificate validation mechanism via a self-signed certificate with an Issuer name that matches a valid CA certificate enrolled in Junos.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidencePKI subsystem in Juniper Junos OS contains a certificate validation bypass where self-signed certificates with an Issuer name matching a valid CA certificate enrolled in Junos can bypass intended validation checks. This allows an attacker with a crafted self-signed certificate to impersonate as a trusted CA.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 12.1x44= 12.1x46= 12.1x47= 12.3= 12.3x48= 12.3x50= 13.3= 14.1= 14.1x53= 14.2= 15.1= 15.1x49CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine Junos OS versionRun 'show version' or 'request system show version' from CLI to obtain the installed Junos OS versionAffected if Version matches any of these: <=12.1x44, 12.1x46, 12.1x47, 12.3, 12.3x48, 12.3x50, 13.3, 14.1, 14.1x53, 14.2, 15.1, 15.1x49
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Verify PKI subsystem is configuredRun 'show security pki' or 'show configuration security pki' to check if PKI and CA certificates are enrolled on the deviceAffected if PKI is configured and CA certificates are enrolled using the 'security pki' subsystem
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Review enrolled CA certificatesRun 'show security pki ca-certificate' to list all enrolled CA certificates and their Issuer/Subject fieldsAffected if CA certificates are enrolled - the bypass allows a self-signed certificate with matching Issuer name to be trusted
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Audit recently added certificatesRun 'show security pki ca-certificate detail' to review certificate fingerprints and enrollment timestamps for any unexpected entriesAffected if Unrecognized or suspiciously added CA certificates exist in the enrolled certificate store
The environment is affected if the device runs a Junos version in the affected list AND has PKI/CA certificates enrolled, as the vulnerability allows crafted self-signed certificates with matching Issuer names to bypass validation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply vendor-supplied Junos OS patches for all affected versions. As a workaround, review enrolled CA certificates and implement additional certificate chain validation controls at downstream devices.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1280 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-1280 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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