KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2023-36845

Junos OS

Juniper Networks / Junos OS · affected before 20.4R3-S9

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Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
93.7%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2023-36845 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Juniper Networks Junos OS. A PHP External Variable Modification vulnerability in J-Web of Juniper Networks Junos OS on EX Series and SRX Series allows...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Juniper Networks / Junos OS affected before 20.4r3-s9.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Junos OS

A PHP External Variable Modification vulnerability in J-Web of Juniper Networks Junos OS on EX Series

and SRX Series

allows an unauthenticated, network-based attacker to remotely execute code.

Using a crafted request which sets the variable PHPRC an attacker is able to modify the PHP execution environment allowing the injection und execution of code.

This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on EX Series

and

SRX Series:

* All versions prior to

20.4R3-S9; * 21.1 versions 21.1R1 and later; * 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S7; * 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S5; * 22.1 versions

prior to

22.1R3-S4; * 22.2 versions

prior to

22.2R3-S2; * 22.3 versions

prior to

22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3-S1; * 22.4 versions

prior to

22.4R2-S1, 22.4R3; * 23.2 versions prior to 23.2R1-S1, 23.2R2.

Vendor Product Affected Status
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 20.4R3-S9 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 21.1* Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 21.2R3-S7 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 21.3R3-S5 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 21.4R3-S5 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 22.1R3-S4 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 22.2R3-S2 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3-S1 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 22.4R2-S1, 22.4R3 Affected
Juniper Networks Junos OS Before 23.2R1-S1, 23.2R2 Affected
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
17 Aug 2023
Exploitation Reported
13 Nov 2023
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

cisa metasploit windows nuclei_scanner edge php

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 13 Nov 2023

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 26 Sep 2023

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2023-11-13 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/freebsd/http/junos_phprc_auto_prepend_file.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2023/CVE-2023-36845.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

93.7%

Weaknesses

PHP External Variable Modification CWE-473

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Juniper J-Web - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

junos_phprc_auto_prepend_file

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2023-36845

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  2. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  4. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  5. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  6. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2023-36845

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2023-36845",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.93667,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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