Juniper SRX firewalls open a root-level account due to a flaw

Experts at Juniper have discovered that an update for its Juniper SRX firewalls opens a root-level account on the network device.

The company started warning its users, every user who issued the “request system software” command with the “partition” option is affected by the issue. The failure of the system update leaves it in a state where root CLI login is allowed without a password. The problem affects any system upgraded from Junos OS prior to 12.1X46-D65. When the system upgrade fails, the system goes into a “safe mode” designed to allow a sysadmin to access it and solve the problem.

This implies that a root login without a password is available.

“Using the ‘request system software‘ command with the ‘partition‘ option on an SRX Series device upgrading from Junos OS releases prior to 12.1X46-D65 can leave the system in a state where root CLI login is allowed without a password due to the system reverting to a “safe mode” authentication triggered by the failed upgrade. Additionally, valid authentication credentials fail to work due to the same issue. Only root with no password will work.” reads a security advisory published by Juniper.

According to the security advisory published by Juniper, no other platform or version of Junos OS is affected by the vulnerability. It also confirmed that no other Juniper Networks products or platforms are affected.

The experts highlighted that any other previously-valid authentication credential is wiped from the system.

In order to definitively solve the problem, it is possible to upgrade the Juniper SRX Series device from an affected release to a fixed release.

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

“Avoid using the ‘partition‘ option when upgrading an SRX Series device to Junos OS 12.1X46 prior to 12.1X46-D65.” continues the advisory. “Note that the symptoms are immediately obvious after an affected upgrade and may be remediated by rebooting the device post-upgrade.”

This means that just rebooting the system the problem will be solved.

The issue is tracked as CVE-2016-1278.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Juniper SRX firewalls, hacking)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.