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Junos Os EvolvedOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2022-22239

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.4 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
An Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerability in Management Daemon (mgd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved allows a locally authenticated attacker with low privileges to escalate their privileges on the device and potentially remote systems. This vulnerability allows a locally authenticated attacker with access to the ssh operational command to escalate their privileges on the system to root, or if there is user interaction on the local device to potentially escalate privileges on a remote system to root. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved: All versions prior to 20.4R3-S5-EVO; 21.1-EVO versions prior to 21.1R3-EVO; 21.2-EVO versions prior to 21.2R2-S1-EVO, 21.2R3-EVO; 21.3-EVO versions prior to 21.3R2-EVO. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS.

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

A privilege escalation vulnerability in the Management Daemon (mgd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved allows a locally authenticated attacker with low privileges to execute code with root privileges by exploiting the ssh operational command. The vulnerability stems from unnecessary privileges assigned to the mgd process, enabling privilege escalation to root or potentially to remote systems via user interaction.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Junos OS Evolved updates: upgrade to 20.4R3-S5-EVO or later, 21.1R3-EVO or later, 21.2R2-S1-EVO/21.2R3-EVO or later, or 21.3R2-EVO or later depending on the current branch.

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
Junos Os EvolvedOperating system
Affected:< 20.4= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 the Junos OS variant
    Run 'show version' or check the system banner to confirm whether the device runs Junos OS Evolved (not regular Junos OS). The vulnerability applies only to the Evolved variant.
    Affected if The device runs Junos OS Evolved (the vulnerable variant)
  2. Check the installed Junos OS Evolved version
    Run 'show version' and locate the installed version string (for example, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3). Compare it to the affected version list: < 20.4, = 20.4, = 21.1, = 21.2, = 21.3.
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the affected versions: 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3 (or any version below 20.4)
  3. Verify mgd process privileges
    Inspect the mgd process permissions or capability set on the system. On Junos OS Evolved, this typically requires shell access or using 'show system processes' to review the mgd daemon configuration and its assigned privileges.
    Affected if The mgd process has been assigned unnecessary elevated privileges beyond what standard management requires
  4. Confirm user privilege level
    Identify whether there are locally authenticated users with low privileges (non-root) on the system using 'show configuration system login' or similar user accounting commands.
    Affected if Low-privilege local users exist on the system who could potentially exploit this vulnerability
  5. Review ssh operational command usage
    Determine if the ssh operational command feature is enabled or accessible. Check the configuration for any custom ssh command definitions or scripts that mgd may invoke, as the vulnerability involves exploiting this specific operational command.
    Affected if The ssh operational command is accessible to low-privilege users on the system

A user is affected if the device runs Junos OS Evolved with a version of 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3 (or any version below 20.4) AND has low-privilege local users who can access the mgd-managed ssh operational command.

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 20.4 or later
Fixed in 20.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied Junos OS Evolved updates: upgrade to 20.4R3-S5-EVO or later, 21.1R3-EVO or later, 21.2R2-S1-EVO/21.2R3-EVO or later, or 21.3R2-EVO or later depending on the current branch.

Recommended fix High confidence

20.4R3-S5-EVO or later; 21.1R3-EVO or later; 21.2R2-S1-EVO/21.2R3-EVO or later; 21.3R2-EVO or later

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS Evolved version using 'show version' command
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on current version branch (20.4, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3)
  3. 3. Download the relevant fixed EVO image from the Juniper Networks support portal
  4. 4. Upload the software package to the device
  5. 5. Install the software upgrade using 'request system software add <package> reboot' command
  6. 6. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version'
  7. 7. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by checking the fixed version is running
Caveat Standard Junos OS Evolved upgrade precautions apply - ensure configuration backup and planned maintenance window

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

Fix this in Junos Os Evolved Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,096.

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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-2022-22239 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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