CVE-2023-28972: medium-severity vulnerability in Juniper Networks Junos OS
Junos OS: NFX Series: 'set system ports console insecure' allows root password recovery
Published · Updated
E-mail alert when it lands in KEV, gets a public PoC or its score goes up.
13Vexday Risk Score
No sign of exploitation. No public exploitation artifact known so far.
ssvc Trackcvss 6.8epss 0.4%
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.
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products
Juniper Networks · Junos OSRelated CVEs — Juniper Networks Junos OS
In the same product, most dangerous first.
CVE-2023-36845CRITICALJunos OS: EX and SRX Series: A PHP vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated to control an important environment variableEPSS 95.1%KEVCVE-2023-36846MEDIUMJunos OS: SRX Series: A vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to upload arbitrary filesEPSS 93.5%KEVCVE-2023-36844MEDIUMJunos OS: EX Series: A PHP vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to control important environment variablesEPSS 90.0%KEVCVE-2023-36847MEDIUMJunos OS: EX Series: A vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to upload arbitrary filesEPSS 83.5%KEVCVE-2020-1631HIGHOut of Cycle Security Advisory: Junos OS: Security vulnerability in J-Web and web based (HTTP/HTTPS) servicesEPSS 4.9%KEVCVE-2025-21590MEDIUMJunos OS: An local attacker with shell access can execute arbitrary codeEPSS 1.7%KEV