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CVE-2021-0223· NVD / CVE Program· CNA juniper

Junos OS: telnetd.real Local Privilege Escalation vulnerabilities in SUID binaries

A local privilege escalation vulnerability in telnetd.real of Juniper Networks Junos OS may allow a locally authenticated shell user to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary commands as root. telnetd.real is shipped with setuid permissions enabled and is owned by the root user, allowing local users to run telnetd.real with root privileges. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: all versions prior to 15.1R7-S9; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R3-S11; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S12, 17.4R3-S3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S11; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3-S6; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R2-S4, 18.3R3-S4; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2-S7, 18.4R3-S6; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R2-S2, 19.1R3-S4; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S6, 19.2R3-S1; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S1; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S2, 19.4R3; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R1-S4, 20.1R2; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R2.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded

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Published
Jan 15, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 30th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · juniper
7.8
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
juniperjunos

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • juniper junos15.1
  • juniper junos17.3
  • juniper junos17.4
  • juniper junos18.1
  • juniper junos18.2
  • juniper junos18.3
  • juniper junos18.4
  • juniper junos19.1
  • juniper junos19.2
  • juniper junos19.3
  • juniper junos19.4
  • juniper junos20.1
  • juniper junos20.2

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (juniper). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Juniper Networks Junos OS

    • unspecified and later · before 15.1R7-S9affected
    • 17.3 and later · before 17.3R3-S11affected
    • 17.4 and later · before 17.4R2-S12, 17.4R3-S3affected
    • 18.1 and later · before 18.1R3-S11affected
    • 18.2 and later · before 18.2R3-S6affected
    • 18.3 and later · before 18.3R2-S4, 18.3R3-S4affected
    • 18.4 and later · before 18.4R2-S7, 18.4R3-S6affected
    • 19.1 and later · before 19.1R2-S2, 19.1R3-S4affected
    • 19.2 and later · before 19.2R1-S6, 19.2R3-S1affected
    • 19.3 and later · before 19.3R3-S1affected

Same product

juniper: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2023-36845Junos OS: EX and SRX Series: A PHP vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated to control an important environment variableKEV
    98Now
  • CVE-2023-36846Junos OS: SRX Series: A vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to upload arbitrary filesKEV
    79This week
  • CVE-2023-36844Junos OS: EX Series: A PHP vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to control important environment variablesKEV
    78This week
  • CVE-2023-36847Junos OS: EX Series: A vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to upload arbitrary filesKEV
    76This week
  • CVE-2020-1631Out of Cycle Security Advisory: Junos OS: Security vulnerability in J-Web and web based (HTTP/HTTPS) servicesKEV
    70This week
  • CVE-2025-21590Junos OS: An local attacker with shell access can execute arbitrary codeKEV
    57Plan

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

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

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.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

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 researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

—

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

  • CVE-2021-026097 days apartJunos OS: SNMP fails to properly perform authorization checks on incoming received SNMP requests.
    29Monitor

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • 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
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-250 · Execution with Unnecessary Privileges

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records