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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2020-1615

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-08
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
The factory configuration for vMX installations, as shipped, includes default credentials for the root account. Without proper modification of these default credentials by the administrator, an attacker could exploit these credentials and access the vMX instance without authorization. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3-S2 on vMX; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R3-S3 on vMX; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R2-S5, 17.3R3-S7 on vMX; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S9, 17.4R3 on vMX; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S9 on vMX; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2-S7, 18.2R3-S3 on vMX; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D420, 18.2X75-D60 on vMX; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R1-S7, 18.3R2-S3, 18.3R3-S1 on vMX; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R1-S5, 18.4R2-S3, 18.4R3 on vMX; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R1-S4, 19.1R2, 19.1R3 on vMX; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S3, 19.2R2 on vMX; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R1-S1, 19.3R2 on vMX.

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

Juniper Networks vMX virtual routers ship with default root credentials in the factory configuration. If administrators do not change these default credentials after deployment, attackers with network access can authenticate as root without any prior privileges and gain full control of the vMX instance.

MitigationImmediately change the default root password on all vMX instances to a strong, unique credential. Verify that default credentials are no longer functional and implement a process to ensure any new vMX deployments have credentials changed before going into production.

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:= 17.1= 17.2= 17.3= 17.4= 18.1= 18.2= 18.2x75= 18.2x75-d10= 18.3= 18.4= 19.1= 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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 if the device is a vMX virtual router
    Confirm the hardware or虚拟化 platform is Juniper vMX series
    Affected if The system is a vMX virtual router running the affected Junos versions
  2. Check the installed Junos version
    Run 'show version' or equivalent command to retrieve the Junos version
    Affected if The Junos version matches any of these: 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, 18.1, 18.2, 18.2x75, 18.2x75-d10, 18.3, 18.4, 19.1, or 19.2
  3. Verify root account password has been changed
    Compare the current root password hash against the known factory default credential value, or attempt authentication with the documented default credentials
    Affected if The root password still matches the factory default and network-based root login is permitted

A system is affected if it is a vMX virtual router running a listed Junos version where the root password was never changed from the factory default.

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

Immediately change the default root password on all vMX instances to a strong, unique credential. Verify that default credentials are no longer functional and implement a process to ensure any new vMX deployments have credentials changed before going into production.

Recommended fix High confidence

17.1R2-S11/17.1R3-S2 or later for 17.1; 17.2R3-S3 or later for 17.2; 17.3R2-S5/17.3R3-S7 or later for 17.3; 17.4R2-S9/17.4R3 or later for 17.4

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS version running on the vMX instance using 'show version'
  2. 2. Download the appropriate fixed release for your version line from the Juniper support portal: For 17.1 upgrade to 17.1R2-S11 or later/17.1R3-S2 or later; For 17.2 upgrade to 17.2R3-S3 or later; For 17.3 upgrade to 17.3R2-S5 or later/17.3R3-S7 or later; For 17.4 upgrade to 17.4R2-S9 or later/17.4R3 or later
  3. 3. Upload the Junos OS image to the vMX instance or JMB/USB storage
  4. 4. Install the upgrade using 'request system software add <package>' with appropriate reboot
  5. 5. After upgrade, immediately change the root account password using 'set system root-authentication plain-text-password'
  6. 6. Verify no unauthorized access has occurred and monitor logs for any suspicious activity
  7. 7. For new vMX deployments, ensure the factory default credentials are changed before putting the device into production
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for compatibility, ensure configuration compatibility, plan maintenance window for reboot

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,050
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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-2020-1615 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
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