An Incorrect Default Permissions vulnerability in Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated attacker with local access to the device to create a backdoor with root privileges. The issue is caused by improper directory permissions on a certain system directory, allowing an attacker with access to this directory to create a backdoor with root privileges.

This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS:

• All versions prior to 20.4R3-S5;
• 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4;
• 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S4;
• 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S3;
• 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S1.

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

This issue was found during internal product security testing or research.

This issue has been assigned CVE-2023-44194.

The following software releases have been updated to resolve this specific issue: Junos OS 20.4R3-S5, 21.1R3-S4, 21.2R3-S4, 21.3R3-S3, 21.4R3-S1, 22.1R1, and all subsequent releases.

This issue is being tracked as PR 1514925 which is visible on the Customer Support website.

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

2023-10-11: 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-2023-44194 at cve.mitre.org
• https://supportportal.juniper.net/JSA73158 [juniper.net]