Medium severity · published Oct 9, 2025
CVE-2025-59957
Junos OS: EX4600 Series and QFX5000 Series: An attacker with physical access can open a persistent backdoor
6.8
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
An Origin Validation Error vulnerability in an insufficient protected file of Juniper Networks Junos OS on EX4600 Series and QFX5000 Series allows an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to the device to create a backdoor which allows complete control of the system. When a device isn't configured with a root password, an attacker can modify a specific file. It's contents will be added to the Junos configuration of the device without being visible. This allows for the addition of any configuration unknown to the actual operator, which includes users, IP addresses and other configuration which could allow unauthorized access to the device. This exploit is persistent across reboots and even zeroization. The indicator of compromise is a modified /etc/config/<platform>-defaults[-flex].conf file. Review that file for unexpected configuration statements, or compare it to an unmodified version which can be extracted from the original Juniper software image file. For details on the extraction procedure please contact Juniper Technical Assistance Center (JTAC). To restore the device to a trusted initial configuration the system needs to be reinstalled from physical media.  This issue affects Junos OS on EX4600 Series and QFX5000 Series: * All versions before 21.4R3, * 22.2 versions before 22.2R3-S3.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Physical
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 8% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
JO
Junos OS · Juniper
before 21.4R3; 22.2 before 22.2R3-S3 · source: vendor, NVD
Affected product
JO
Junos OS
Juniper
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