Description

Juniper Networks has issued urgent security updates to address a critical vulnerability in its Session Smart Routers and Conductors, tracked as CVE-2024-2973, which poses a severe risk of authentication bypass. This flaw, assigned a maximum CVSS score of 10.0, specifically impacts devices operating in high-availability redundant configurations. Juniper Networks disclosed that affected models include Session Smart Router versions prior to 5.6.15, between 6.0 and 6.1.9-lts, and 6.2 before 6.2.5-sts, as well as Session Smart Conductor and WAN Assurance Router versions before specified updates. The vulnerability could allow a network-based attacker to circumvent authentication mechanisms, gaining unauthorized control over the affected devices. Despite the seriousness of the issue, Juniper Networks has not detected any instances of exploitation in the wild. The company identified and addressed the vulnerability internally during product testing, stressing that there are no known workarounds to mitigate the risk. Earlier in January 2024, Juniper Networks addressed another critical vulnerability (CVE-2024-21591, CVSS score: 9.8) in the same product lines, which could potentially lead to denial-of-service attacks or remote code execution with root privileges. Given the history of these security issues and recent threats targeting Juniper's SRX firewalls and EX switches, prompt installation of the latest patches is crucial for users to safeguard their networks against potential exploits.