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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2025-59961

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 21.2 / 22.4 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource vulnerability in the Juniper DHCP daemon (jdhcpd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a local, low-privileged user to write to the Unix socket used to manage the jdhcpd process, resulting in complete control over the resource. This vulnerability allows any low-privileged user logged into the system to connect to the Unix socket and issue commands to manage the DHCP service, in essence, taking administrative control of the local DHCP server or DHCP relay. This issue affects: Junos OS: * all versions before 21.2R3-S10, * all versions of 22.2, * from 21.4 before 21.4R3-S12, * from 22.4 before 22.4R3-S8, * from 23.2 before 23.2R2-S5, * from 23.4 before 23.4R2-S6, * from 24.2 before 24.2R2-S2, * from 24.4 before 24.4R2, * from 25.2 before 25.2R1-S1, 25.2R2; Junos OS Evolved: * all versions before 22.4R3-S8-EVO, * from 23.2 before 23.2R2-S5-EVO, * from 23.4 before 23.4R2-S6-EVO, * from 24.2 before 24.2R2-S2-EVO, * from 24.4 before 24.4R2-EVO, * from 25.2 before 25.2R1-S1-EVO, 25.2R2-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 confidence

The Juniper DHCP daemon (jdhcpd) uses a Unix socket for process management that has overly permissive file permissions, allowing any local low-privileged user to connect to this socket and issue administrative commands to control the DHCP service.

MitigationApply the appropriate Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved vendor patch from the advisory to remediate the incorrect socket permissions.

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:< 21.2= 21.2= 21.4= 22.2= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4= 24.2= 24.4= 25.2
Junos Os EvolvedOperating system
Affected:< 22.4= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4= 24.2= 24.4= 25.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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. Verify jdhcpd is running
    Run 'ps aux | grep jdhcpd' or check process status via 'show system processes jdhcpd' in Junos CLI
    Affected if jdhcpd daemon is active on the system
  2. Locate the jdhcpd management socket
    On Junos devices, check /var/run/jdhcpd/ or run 'ls -la /var/run/jdhcpd/*.sock' to find the Unix socket file
    Affected if A Unix socket file exists for jdhcpd process management
  3. Inspect socket file permissions
    Run 'ls -la <socket_path>' to view permissions (e.g., chmod mode, owner/group). Look for world-writable (o+w) or overly permissive modes like 0777 or 0666.
    Affected if Socket permissions are world-writable (mode includes 'w' for others) or mode 0777/0666, allowing any local user to connect
  4. Confirm Junos version
    Run 'show version' in Junos CLI or check /var/os-release on Junos OS Evolved. Compare the installed version against the affected ranges: Junos <21.2, =21.2, =21.4, =22.2, =22.4, =23.2, =23.4, =24.2, =24.4, =25.2 or Junos OS Evolved <22.4, =22.4, =23.2, =23.4, =24.2, =24.4, =25.2
    Affected if The installed Junos or Junos OS Evolved version matches one listed in the affected versions

The system is affected if jdhcpd is running with a world-writable Unix socket AND the Junos version matches any of the listed vulnerable versions.

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 21.2 / 22.4 or later
Fixed in 21.222.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved vendor patch from the advisory to remediate the incorrect socket permissions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the fixed S-release or latest release for your branch (21.2R3-S10, 21.4R3-S12, 22.4R3-S8, 23.2R2-S5, 23.4R2-S6, 24.2R2-S2, 24.4R2, or 25.2R2 depending on your branch)

  1. 1. Identify the exact Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version currently running using 'show version' command.
  2. 2. Based on the identified version, upgrade to one of the fixed releases: For 21.2 branch, upgrade to 21.2R3-S10 or later; For 21.4 branch, upgrade to 21.4R3-S12 or later; For 22.2 branch, upgrade to a later branch (22.4R3-S8 or later recommended); For 22.4 branch, upgrade to 22.4R3-S8 or later; For 23.2 branch, upgrade to 23.2R2-S5 or later; For 23.4 branch, upgrade to 23.4R2-S6 or later; For 24.
  3. 3. Download the appropriate upgrade image from the Juniper Networks support portal (supportportal.juniper.net).
  4. 4. Transfer the upgrade image to the device using FTP/SCP to the /var/tmp directory.
  5. 5. Verify the image integrity using 'request system software validate <image>' command.
  6. 6. Initiate the software upgrade using 'request system software add <image>' command.
  7. 7. After upgrade completes, reboot the device using 'request system reboot' command.
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new version is running with 'show version' and confirm the DHCP daemon is operational with 'show dhcp server binding'.
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade precautions apply - verify hardware compatibility, schedule maintenance window, backup configuration, and test in lab environment before production deployment

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
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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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-2025-59961 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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