CVE-2019-0035 Junos OS: 'set system ports console insecure' allows root password recovery on OAM volumes
Attackers with physical console access can bypass root login restrictions to change the root password on OAM volumes, gaining administrative control.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2019-0035?
CVE-2019-0035 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 10 Apr 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
When "set system ports console insecure" is enabled, root login is disallowed for Junos OS as expected. However, the root password can be changed using "set system root-authentication plain-text-password" on systems booted from an OAM (Operations, Administration, and Maintenance) volume, leading to a possible administrative bypass with physical access to the console. OAM volumes (e.g. flash drives) are typically instantiated as /dev/gpt/oam, or /oam for short. Password recovery, changing the root password from a console, should not have been allowed from an insecure console. Affected releases are Juniper Networks Junos OS: 15.1 versions prior to 15.1F6-S12, 15.1R7-S3; 15.1X49 versions prior to 15.1X49-D160; 15.1X53 versions prior to 15.1X53-D236, 15.1X53-D496, 15.1X53-D68; 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R3-S10, 16.1R6-S6, 16.1R7-S3; 16.1X65 versions prior to 16.1X65-D49; 16.2 versions prior to 16.2R2-S8; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S10, 17.1R3; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R1-S8, 17.2R3-S1; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R3-S3; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R1-S6, 17.4R2-S2; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R2-S4, 18.1R3-S3; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D40; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R1-S2. This issue does not affect Junos OS releases prior to 15.1.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-0035?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Juniper Junos.
How do I fix CVE-2019-0035?
No fix has been published for CVE-2019-0035 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2019-0035 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-0035 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Juniper Junos
- CVE-2023-36845 Juniper Junos OS EX Series and SRX Series PHP External Variable Modification
- CVE-2020-1631 Juniper Junos OS Path Traversal
- CVE-2025-21590 Juniper Junos OS Improper Isolation or Compartmentalization
- CVE-2023-36851 Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function
- CVE-2023-36844 Juniper Junos OS EX Series PHP External Variable Modification
Sources
Also known as GHSA-45jm-w28x-87fw.