CVE-2026-21916
Last modified
CVE-2026-21916 is a high-severity vulnerability rated 7.3/10 on the CVSS scale. A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in the CLI of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows a local, authenticated attacker with low privileges to escalate their privileges to root which will lead to a complete compromise of the system. When after a user has performed a specific 'file link ...' CLI operation, another user commits (unrelated configuration changes), the first user can login as root. This issue affects Junos OS: * all versions before 23.2R2-S7, * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S6, * 24.2 versions before 24.2R2-S3, * 24.4 versions before 24.4R2-S2, * 25.2 versions before 25.2R2. This issue does not affect versions 25.4R1 or later.. EPSS estimates a 0.13% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.
Description
A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in the CLI of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows a local, authenticated attacker with low privileges to escalate their privileges to root which will lead to a complete compromise of the system. When after a user has performed a specific 'file link ...' CLI operation, another user commits (unrelated configuration changes), the first user can login as root. This issue affects Junos OS: * all versions before 23.2R2-S7, * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S6, * 24.2 versions before 24.2R2-S3, * 24.4 versions before 24.4R2-S2, * 25.2 versions before 25.2R2. This issue does not affect versions 25.4R1 or later.
Metrics
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:Y/R:U/V:X/RE:M/U:X
Weakness Enumeration
Affected Software
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Juniper | Junos | < 23.2 |
| Juniper | Junos | 23.2 |
| Juniper | Junos | 23.4 |
| Juniper | Junos | 24.2 |
| Juniper | Junos | 24.4 |
| Juniper | Junos | 25.2 |
References
- https://kb.juniper.net/JSA107807Mitigation, Vendor Advisory
Timeline
- Published
- Last Modified
- Status
- Analyzed
Frequently Asked Questions
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How Strix Helps
- How Strix found a critical auth bypass in etcdStrix autonomously discovered a critical authentication bypass in etcd, later designated CVE-2026-33413.
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