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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2020-1614

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.2 or later.
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
A Use of Hard-coded Credentials vulnerability exists in the NFX250 Series for the vSRX Virtual Network Function (VNF) instance, which allows an attacker to take control of the vSRX VNF instance if they have the ability to access an administrative service (e.g. SSH) on the VNF, either locally, or through the network. This issue only affects the NFX250 Series vSRX VNF. No other products or platforms are affected. This issue is only applicable to environments where the vSRX VNF root password has not been configured. This issue affects the Juniper Networks NFX250 Network Services Platform vSRX VNF instance on versions prior to 19.2R1.

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

The NFX250 Series vSRX VNF contains hardcoded credentials that allow root access when the root password has not been configured. An attacker with network or local access to administrative services like SSH can exploit these hardcoded credentials to take full control of the affected vSRX virtual machine.

MitigationConfigure a strong root password on all vSRX VNF instances to invalidate the hardcoded credentials, and upgrade to version 19.2R1 or later. Additionally, restrict SSH and administrative service access to trusted networks only.

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:< 19.2= 19.2

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 vSRX VNF on NFX250 hardware
    Check if the Junos device is running as a vSRX Virtual Firewall on NFX250 Series hardware. Use 'show chassis hardware' or 'show virtual-chassis' to confirm the platform type.
    Affected if Device is a vSRX VNF running on NFX250 Series hardware
  2. Determine Junos software version
    Run 'show version' or 'request system software version' to obtain the installed Junos version.
    Affected if Installed version is 19.2 or any version below 19.2 (e.g., 19.1, 18.x, earlier releases)
  3. Verify root account password status
    Check if a root password is configured on the system. Use 'show system login' or attempt to view the root user configuration with 'show configuration system root-authentication'. Also check 'system services ssh' configuration.
    Affected if Root password is not configured or is left at factory default/empty, AND the device is an affected vSRX version
  4. Confirm SSH administrative access is enabled
    Review the SSH service configuration with 'show configuration system services ssh' to determine if SSH is enabled and accessible.
    Affected if SSH service is enabled and exposed to network access on the vSRX

A user is affected if running a vSRX VNF on NFX250 hardware with Junos version 19.2 or lower AND the root password has not been configured, with SSH administrative access enabled.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 19.2 or later
Fixed in 19.2
Interim mitigation

Configure a strong root password on all vSRX VNF instances to invalidate the hardcoded credentials, and upgrade to version 19.2R1 or later. Additionally, restrict SSH and administrative service access to trusted networks only.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to Junos 19.2R1 or any subsequent stable release (19.3R1, 19.4R1, 20.x, etc.)

  1. Identify the current Junos version running on the NFX250 vSRX VNF instance using 'show version' command
  2. Backup the current configuration using 'request system snapshot' or by exporting configuration to external storage
  3. Download the fixed Junos software image (19.2R1 or later) from the Juniper Networks download portal
  4. Upload the new Junos image to the NFX250 device
  5. Initiate the software upgrade using 'request system software add <image-name>' command
  6. Reboot the device after upgrade completes using 'request system reboot'
  7. After reboot, verify the new Junos version with 'show version'
  8. Configure a strong root password using 'set system root-authentication plain-text-password' to ensure the hardcoded credential is not used
Caveat Review Junos 19.2R1 release notes for any configuration syntax changes or features that may affect existing vSRX VNF setups before upgrading

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

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
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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-2020-1614 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data