Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
- EPSS is 0.32% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2020
CVE-2020-1619High confidence
Junos OS: QFX10K Series, EX9200 Series, MX Series, PTX Series: Privilege escalation vulnerability in NG-RE.
Juniper Networks · Junos OS
6.0MediumCVSS 3.1
Scheduled
Patch availableMedium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityMedium→Operational priority:Low, lowered one band.downgradedsince 17 Sep 2024
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Juniper Networks Junos OS and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
Patch available01
What, why and how
A privilege escalation vulnerability in Juniper Networks QFX10K Series, EX9200 Series, MX Series, and PTX Series with Next-Generation Routing Engine (NG-RE), allows a local authenticated high privileged user to access the underlying WRL host. This issue only affects QFX10K Series with NG-RE, EX9200 Series with NG-RE, MX Series with NG-RE and PTX Series with NG-RE; which uses vmhost. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R7-S6; 16.2 versions prior to 16.2R2-S11; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R1-S9, 17.2R3-S3; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R2-S5, 17.3R3-S7; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S7, 17.4R3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S4; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D50; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R2; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2. To identify whether the device has NG-RE with vmhost, customer can run the following command: > show vmhost status Compute cluster: rainier-re-cc Compute Node: rainier-re-cn, Online If the "show vmhost status" is not supported, then the device does not have NG-RE with vmhost.
What
A privilege escalation vulnerability in Juniper Networks QFX10K Series, EX9200 Series, MX Series, and PTX Series with Next-Generation Routing Engine (NG-RE), allows a local authenticated high privileged user to access the underlying WRL host. This issue only affects QFX10K Series with NG-RE, EX9200 Series with NG-RE, MX Series with NG-RE and PTX Series with NG-RE; which uses vmhost. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R7-S6; 16.2 versions prior to 16.2R2-S11; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R1-S9, 17.2R3-S3; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R2-S5, 17.3R3-S7; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S7, 17.4R3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S4; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D50; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R2; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2. To identify whether the device has NG-RE with vmhost, customer can run the following command: > show vmhost status Compute cluster: rainier-re-cc Compute Node: rainier-re-cn, Online If the "show vmhost status" is not supported, then the device does not have NG-RE with vmhost.
Why
The current structured CVE record identifies a security weakness, but the root cause requires confirmation in the linked vendor material.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.
What
A privilege escalation vulnerability in Juniper Networks QFX10K Series, EX9200 Series, MX Series, and PTX Series with Next-Generation Routing Engine (NG-RE), allows a local authenticated high privileged user to access the underlying WRL host. This issue only affects QFX10K Series with NG-RE, EX9200 Series with NG-RE, MX Series with NG-RE and PTX Series with NG-RE; which uses vmhost. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R7-S6; 16.2 versions prior to 16.2R2-S11; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R1-S9, 17.2R3-S3; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R2-S5, 17.3R3-S7; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S7, 17.4R3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S4; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D50; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R2; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2. To identify whether the device has NG-RE with vmhost, customer can run the following command: > show vmhost status Compute cluster: rainier-re-cc Compute Node: rainier-re-cn, Online If the "show vmhost status" is not supported, then the device does not have NG-RE with vmhost.
Why
The current structured CVE record identifies a security weakness, but the root cause requires confirmation in the linked vendor material.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- local access → vulnerable operation → gain additional privileges
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- High: elevated access is required
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-264 ↗
CWE-264. Open the MITRE definition for the exact weakness description.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Action
- Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 8 Apr 2020 · Last source change 17 Sept 2024, 02:27 UTC · CWE-264
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2020-12487
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.