Juniper ScreenOS 6.2.0r15 through 6.2.0r18, 6.3.0r12 before 6.3.0r12b, 6.3.0r13 before 6.3.0r13b, 6.3.0r14 before 6.3.0r14b, 6.3.0r15 before
Juniper ScreenOS 6.2.0r15 through 6.2.0r18, 6.3.0r12 before 6.3.0r12b, 6.3.0r13 before 6.3.0r13b, 6.3.0r14 before 6.3.0r14b, 6.3.0r15 before 6.3.0r15b, 6.3.0r16 before 6.3.0r16b, 6.3.0r17 before 6.3.0r17b, 6.3.0r18 before 6.3.0r18b, 6.3.0r19 before 6.3.0r19b, and 6.3.0r20 before 6.3.0r21 allows remote attackers to obtain administrative access by entering an unspecified password during a (1) SSH or (2) TELNET session.
- Published
- Dec 19, 2015
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 61.1% · 99th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-287
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Report tools
Action score
87
Now
Patch today or shut off access.
- CVSS
- 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 30 / 30 · Listed
- EPSS
- 18 / 30 · 61.1%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- active
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
Actively exploited in the wild
CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Oct 2, 2025. That signals real attacks, not theory.
Remediation deadline for government agencies: Oct 23, 2025.
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| juniper | screenos | cpe:2.3:o:juniper:screenos |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- juniper screenos6.3.0
Same product
juniper: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2015-7754Juniper ScreenOS before 6.3.0r21, when ssh-pka is configured and enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (system crash33Monitor
- CVE-2014-2842Juniper ScreenOS 6.3 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash and restart or failover) via a malformed SSL/TL32Monitor
- CVE-2016-1268The administrative web services interface in Juniper ScreenOS before 6.3.0r21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (reboot) 31Monitor
- CVE-2014-3814The Juniper Networks NetScreen Firewall devices with ScreenOS before 6.3r17, when configured to use the internal DNS lookup client, allows r31Monitor
- CVE-2014-3813Unspecified vulnerability in the Juniper Networks NetScreen Firewall products with ScreenOS before 6.3r17, when configured to use the intern31Monitor
- CVE-2013-6958Juniper NetScreen Firewall running ScreenOS 5.4, 6.2, or 6.3, when the Ping of Death screen is disabled, allows remote attackers to cause a 29Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
Weaponized
A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.
Evidence
- Metasploit module ×1
- Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×2
Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.
| Source | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Metasploit module | auxiliary/scanner/ssh/juniper_backdoorJuniper SSH Backdoor Scannerauxiliary | 2015-12-20 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:105 | 2015-12-18 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:2 | 2016-01-09 |
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
- First PoC-1 d
- Published
- Metasploit+1 d
- CISA KEV+3575 d
- TodaySep 30, 2026+3938 d
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-287 · Improper AuthenticationCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-primary
Root cause
Authentication is added route by route instead of being enforced in one place. When a route added later bypasses the shared middleware, the session check never runs for it.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-287 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
app.use("/admin", requireSession, adminRouter);
// Route added later skips the middlewareapp.post("/admin-api/config", updateConfig);Fixed
const admin = express.Router();admin.use(requireSession, requireRole("admin"));
admin.post("/config", updateConfig);app.use("/admin", admin);Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
- Authentication AbuseCAPEC-114Medium
- Authentication BypassCAPEC-115Medium
- Identity SpoofingCAPEC-151likelihood: Medium · Medium
- Fake the Source of DataCAPEC-194Medium
- Exploiting Trust in ClientCAPEC-22likelihood: High · High
- Utilizing REST's Trust in the System Resource to Obtain Sensitive DataCAPEC-57likelihood: Medium · Very High
- Session HijackingCAPEC-593likelihood: High · Very High
- Token ImpersonationCAPEC-633Medium
ATT&CK techniques
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
- arstechnica.com/security/2015/12/unauthorized-code-in-juniper-firewalls-decrypts-encrypted-vpn-traffic/
- twitter.com/cryptoron/statuses/677900647560253442
- www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/12/18/juniper-says-it-didnt-work-with-government-to-add-unauthorized-code-to-network-gear/
- www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/640184
- www.securityfocus.com/bid/79626
- www.securitytracker.com/id/1034489
- www.wired.com/2015/12/juniper-networks-hidden-backdoors-show-the-risk-of-government-backdoors/
- adamcaudill.com/2015/12/17/much-ado-about-juniper/
- forums.juniper.net/t5/Security-Incident-Response/Important-Announcement-about-ScreenOS/ba-p/285554
- github.com/hdm/juniper-cve-2015-7755
- www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2015-7755
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.