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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2025-52983

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 22.2 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 UI Discrepancy for Security Feature vulnerability in the UI of Juniper Networks Junos OS on VM Host systems allows a network-based, unauthenticated attacker to access the device. On VM Host Routing Engines (RE), even if the configured public key for root has been removed, remote users which are in possession of the corresponding private key can still log in as root. This issue affects Junos OS: * all versions before 22.2R3-S7, * 22.4 versions before 22.4R3-S5, * 23.2 versions before 23.2R2-S3, * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S3, * 24.2 versions before 24.2R1-S2, 24.2R2.

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

This is an authentication bypass vulnerability in Junos OS VM Host Routing Engines where SSH public key removal via the UI is not properly enforced on the backend. Even after administrators remove a root user's public key through the management interface, remote attackers possessing the corresponding private key can still authenticate as root. This is a UI-to-backend discrepancy where the presentation layer shows the key removed but the underlying SSH authentication mechanism still accepts it.

MitigationUpgrade Junos OS to the fixed versions (22.2R3-S7, 22.4R3-S5, 23.2R2-S3, 23.4R2-S3, 24.2R1-S2, or 24.2R2). As a temporary mitigation, rotate or revoke any SSH key pairs that may have been configured for root access on affected systems to prevent authorized but now-unwanted access.

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:< 22.2= 22.2= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4= 24.2

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' or check the system banner to determine the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if The installed version matches < 22.2, = 22.2, = 22.4, = 23.2, = 23.4, or = 24.2
  2. Check if SSH public key authentication is configured for root
    Run 'show system login user root' or inspect the configuration at 'system login user root authentication ssh-rsa'
    Affected if SSH public key(s) are configured for the root user in the configuration
  3. Verify SSH service configuration
    Run 'show configuration system services ssh' to confirm SSH service is enabled and review the SSH configuration settings
    Affected if SSH service is enabled and public key authentication is permitted
  4. Compare UI-displayed keys to actual authorized_keys
    If possible, compare the public keys shown in the management UI for root user against the actual SSH authorized_keys or configuration that SSH daemon uses for authentication
    Affected if The UI shows no public keys but SSH authentication still succeeds with a previously configured key, indicating the UI-to-backend discrepancy exists

A system is affected if it runs a Junos OS version in the affected list, has SSH public key authentication configured for root, and the backend still accepts keys that were supposedly removed through the management interface.

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 22.2 or later
Fixed in 22.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Junos OS to the fixed versions (22.2R3-S7, 22.4R3-S5, 23.2R2-S3, 23.4R2-S3, 24.2R1-S2, or 24.2R2). As a temporary mitigation, rotate or revoke any SSH key pairs that may have been configured for root access on affected systems to prevent authorized but now-unwanted access.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to 22.2R3-S7 or later (22.2 branch), 22.4R3-S5 or later (22.4 branch), 23.2R2-S3 or later (23.2 branch), 23.4R2-S3 or later (23.4 branch), or 24.2R1-S2/24.2R2 or later (24.2 branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS version running on the affected VM Host system using 'show version'
  2. 2. Determine which branch (22.2, 22.4, 23.2, 23.4, or 24.2) the current version belongs to
  3. 3. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade
  4. 4. Back up the current configuration using 'request system configuration rescue save'
  5. 5. Download the appropriate fixed version for the branch: 22.2R3-S7 or later, 22.4R3-S5 or later, 23.2R2-S3 or later, 23.4R2-S3 or later, or 24.2R1-S2/24.2R2 or later
  6. 6. Upload the Junos upgrade package to the device
  7. 7. Perform the upgrade using 'request system software add <package> reboot'
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version'
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade risks apply - ensure backups are taken and plan for brief downtime during reboot

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

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2025-52983 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