CVE-2025-52988
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 · uneditedAn Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') vulnerability in the CLI of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a high privileged, local attacker to escalated their privileges to root. When a user provides specifically crafted arguments to the 'request system logout' command, these will be executed as root on the shell, which can completely compromise the device. This issue affects: Junos OS: * all versions before 21.2R3-S9, * 21.4 versions before 21.4R3-S8, * 22.2 versions before 22.2R3-S6, * 22.3 versions before 22.3R3-S3, * 22.4 versions before 22.4R3-S6, * 23.2 versions before 23.2R2-S1, * 23.4 versions before 23.4R1-S2, 23.4R2; Junos OS Evolved: * all versions before 22.4R3-S6-EVO, * 23.2-EVO versions before 23.2R2-S1-EVO, * 23.4-EVO versions before 23.4R1-S2-EVO, 23.4R2-EVO.
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 confidenceOS command injection in the 'request system logout' CLI command in Juniper Junos OS allows a high-privileged local attacker to inject shell commands that execute as root, achieving privilege escalation from high privileged user to root.
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< 21.2= 21.2= 21.4= 22.2= 22.3= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4< 22.4= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Junos versionRun 'show version' in the CLI or 'show version detail' for more details. Note the exact version string (e.g., 21.2R1, 22.4R3, etc.)Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions: Junos OS < 21.2, = 21.2, = 21.4, = 22.2, = 22.3, = 22.4, = 23.2, = 23.4; Junos OS Evolved < 22.4, = 22.4, = 23.2, = 23.4. Compare your exact version against this list.
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Confirm high-privileged user access existsCheck which user accounts have elevated CLI privileges (e.g., 'show system users' or review authentication configuration). The vulnerability requires a high-privileged local attacker to exploit.Affected if Multiple high-privileged accounts exist or shared high-privileged credentials are in use, increasing the attack surface for local privilege escalation.
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Verify CLI operational mode is accessibleConfirm that operational mode commands can be executed. The flaw is in the 'request system logout' CLI command, which is available in operational mode.Affected if Operational mode CLI access is granted to high-privileged users, allowing execution of the vulnerable 'request system logout' command.
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Audit user login and session activityReview 'show system login' and 'show system session' outputs to identify active high-privileged sessions that could leverage this command injection.Affected if High-privileged users have active CLI sessions where they could invoke the vulnerable command.
You are affected if your Juniper Junos OS/Evolved version matches the affected list AND high-privileged local CLI access is available to an attacker who could execute the 'request system logout' command.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped21.222.4
Apply the vendor-supplied patches by upgrading Junos OS/Evolved to the specified fixed versions (21.2R3-S9, 21.4R3-S8, 22.2R3-S6, 22.3R3-S3, 22.4R3-S6, 23.2R2-S1, 23.4R1-S2 or later) within the maintenance window.
Junos OS: 21.2R3-S9, 21.4R3-S8, 22.2R3-S6, 22.3R3-S3, 22.4R3-S6, 23.2R2-S1, or 23.4R1-S2/23.4R2 and later | Junos OS Evolved: 22.4R3-S6-EVO, 23.2R2-S1-EVO, or 23.4R1-S2-EVO/23.4R2-EVO and later
- 1. Identify the current Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version using 'show version' command
- 2. Based on the current version branch, upgrade to the minimum fixed release: For 21.2.x branch upgrade to 21.2R3-S9; For 21.4.x upgrade to 21.4R3-S8; For 22.2.x upgrade to 22.2R3-S6; For 22.3.x upgrade to 22.3R3-S3; For 22.4.x upgrade to 22.4R3-S6; For 23.2.x upgrade to 23.2R2-S1; For 23.4.x upgrade to 23.4R1-S2 or 23.4R2 or later
- 3. For Junos OS Evolved: upgrade to 22.4R3-S6-EVO, 23.2R2-S1-EVO, or 23.4R1-S2-EVO/23.4R2-EVO or later depending on current branch
- 4. Download the appropriate upgrade package from the Juniper support portal
- 5. Upload the upgrade package to the device using 'request system software add' command
- 6. Reboot the device using 'request system reboot' command
- 7. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version'
- 8. Confirm the fix is applied by testing that the 'request system logout' command no longer executes arbitrary commands
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-52988 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-52988 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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