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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2018-0035

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
QFX5200 and QFX10002 devices that have been shipped with Junos OS 15.1X53-D21, 15.1X53-D30, 15.1X53-D31, 15.1X53-D32, 15.1X53-D33 and 15.1X53-D60 or have been upgraded to these releases using the .bin or .iso images may contain an unintended additional Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) partition. This additional partition allows the superuser to reboot to the ONIE partition which will wipe out the content of the Junos partition and its configuration. Once rebooted, the ONIE partition will not have root password configured, thus any user can access the console or SSH, using an IP address acquired from DHCP, as root without password. Once the device has been shipped or upgraded with the ONIE partition installed, the issue will persist. Simply upgrading to higher release via the CLI will not resolve the issue. No other Juniper Networks products or platforms are affected by this issue.

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 confidence

QFX5200 and QFX10002 devices running specific Junos OS versions (15.1X53-D21 through D33, D60) shipped or upgraded using .bin or .iso images contain an unintended additional ONIE partition. An attacker with superuser access can reboot into this ONIE partition, which wipes the Junos partition and configuration, then provides unauthenticated root access via console or SSH using DHCP-assigned IP addresses. The vulnerability persists even after standard CLI upgrades.

MitigationDevices must be reimaged or recovered using Juniper's specific recovery procedure; standard Junos upgrades do not remove the rogue ONIE partition. Organizations should verify whether affected devices have the vulnerable partition and apply vendor-provided recovery steps.

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
JunosOperating system
Affected:= 15.1x53

CVSS 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify device model
    Run 'show chassis hardware' or 'show version' to confirm the device is a QFX5200 or QFX10002
    Affected if Device model is QFX5200 or QFX10002
  2. Check Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' and locate the Junos version string. Look for 15.1X53-D21 through D33, or 15.1X53-D60
    Affected if Version falls within 15.1X53-D21 through D33 or D60
  3. Verify ONIE partition presence
    Run 'show system storage' or 'show disk storage' to list all partitions. Look for an ONIE partition separate from the primary Junos partitions
    Affected if A secondary ONIE partition exists alongside the Junos boot partitions (besides the expected ONIE partition on the device)
  4. Check boot device configuration
    Run 'show boot-list' or access the boot environment to list available boot devices. Check for multiple bootable ONIE entries
    Affected if Multiple ONIE boot entries appear or an unexpected ONIE boot device is listed

A defender is affected if they have a QFX5200 or QFX10002 running Junos 15.1X53-D21 through D33 or D60 that was installed via .bin or .iso images and now contains an extra ONIE partition visible in the storage output.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Devices must be reimaged or recovered using Juniper's specific recovery procedure; standard Junos upgrades do not remove the rogue ONIE partition. Organizations should verify whether affected devices have the vulnerable partition and apply vendor-provided recovery steps.

Recommended fix High confidence

15.1X53-D70 or later

  1. 1. Download the fixed Junos OS image for QFX5200/QFX10002 (e.g., Junos 15.1X53‑D70 or later) from the Juniper Networks support portal.
  2. 2. Back up the current device configuration to a secure location (e.g., using 'request system backup' or by copying the config file).
  3. 3. Transfer the new Junos image to the device (e.g., to /var/tmp).
  4. 4. Reboot the device into the ONIE installer: from the console, interrupt the boot sequence to enter ONIE, or use 'request system boot-mode onie' if available.
  5. 5. From the ONIE prompt, run the installer to perform a fresh installation of Junos, which repartitions the disk and removes the extra ONIE partition (e.g., 'install image /path/to/junos-image.bin' or 'onie-select -i /path/to/junos-image.bin').
  6. 6. Allow the device to complete the installation and reboot into Junos.
  7. 7. Verify that the extra ONIE partition is no longer present (e.g., run 'show system storage' or inspect partition layout from the console).
  8. 8. Restore the previously saved configuration onto the device.
Caveat A fresh reinstall via ONIE will erase all existing data and configuration; ensure you have a backup and plan for downtime.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-0035 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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