An Improper Link Resolution Before File Access vulnerability in console port access of Juniper Networks Junos OS on NFX Series allows an attacker to bypass console access controls.

When "set system ports console insecure" is enabled, root login is disallowed for Junos OS as expected. However, the root password can be changed using "set system root-authentication plain-text-password" on NFX Series systems, leading to a possible administrative bypass with physical access to the console.

Password recovery, changing the root password from a console, should not have been allowed from an insecure console.

This is similar to the vulnerability described in CVE-2019-0035 but affects different platforms and in turn requires a different fix.

This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on NFX Series:

• 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R3-S7;
• 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S8;
• 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3-S12;
• 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S8;
• 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S7;
• 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S5;
• 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S4;
• 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S3;
• 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S2;
• 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S1;
• 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R2-S1, 22.2R3;
• 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R1-S2, 22.3R2.

Juniper SIRT is not aware of any malicious exploitation of this vulnerability.

This issue was discovered during external security research.

This issue has been assigned CVE-2023-28972.
 

The following software releases have been updated to resolve this specific issue: 19.2R3-S7, 19.3R3-S8, 19.4R3-S12, 20.4R3-S7, 21.1R3-S5, 21.2R3-S4, 21.3R3-S3, 21.4R3-S2, 22.1R3-S1, 22.2R2-S1, 22.2R3, 22.3R1-S2, 22.3R2, 22.4R1, and all subsequent releases.

This issue is being tracked as 1669072

Note: Juniper SIRT's policy is not to evaluate releases which are beyond End of Engineering (EOE) or End of Life (EOL).
 

• 2023-04-12: Initial Publication.

• KB16613: Overview of the Juniper Networks SIRT Quarterly Security Bulletin Publication Process [juniper.net]
• KB16765: In which releases are vulnerabilities fixed? [juniper.net]
• KB16446: Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) and Juniper's Security Advisories [juniper.net]
• Report a Security Vulnerability - How to Contact the Juniper Networks Security Incident Response Team
• CVE-2023-28972 at cve.mitre.org