Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2026-21916


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.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.3, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from juniper organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2026, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2026-04-09T22:16:24.953

Last Modified

2026-04-17T18:05:52.693

Status

Analyzed

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 7.3 (HIGH)

Weaknesses
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-61

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Operating System juniper junos < 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 23.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 24.4 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 25.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 25.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 25.2 Yes
Operating System juniper junos 25.2 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For juniper's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.