Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain valid Juju credentials
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DeliveryAuthenticate to controller API
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ExploitIssue cross-model resource modification commands
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ExecutionBypass authorization checks
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PersistTamper with application charm resources
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ImpactInject malicious payloads or alter configurations
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization logic validation
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Attacker must possess valid authenticated credentials to the Juju controller-either user credentials, machine agent credentials, or compromised controller component identity. The vulnerability does not affect unauthenticated or anonymous access. Exploitation is limited to the scope of a single Juju controller instance; attackers cannot cross controller boundaries. Affected versions must be 2.9.0-2.9.55 or 3.6.0-3.6.18. No special Juju features, non-default configurations, or specific charm deployments are required-the flaw exists in core authorization logic affecting standard resource modification operations. What limits exploitation: authentication requirement (PR:L) means initial credential compromise or malicious insider scenario is prerequisite. Network reachability to controller API (typically TCP 17070) is necessary but not sufficient. Impact scope is limited to integrity (VI:H)-attackers can modify resources but cannot directly exfiltrate data (VC:N) or cause availability disruption (VA:N) through this vulnerability alone. |
| Impact | Medium-high risk for Juju deployments with multiple tenants or untrusted authenticated users, but low immediate exploitation likelihood. CVSS 7.1 (High) reflects significant integrity impact (VI:H) with network-accessible attack vector (AV:N) and low complexity (AC:L). However, low privilege authentication requirement (PR:L) substantially narrows the attack surface-adversaries need valid credentials first. EPSS score of 0.01% (2nd percentile) indicates security researchers assess mass exploitation as highly unlikely, suggesting this is a targeted risk rather than wormable threat. No CISA KEV listing confirms no known active exploitation. SSVC assessment: exploitation status is none (no public POC identified), automatable is no (requires pre-existing authentication), technical impact is partial (integrity only, no confidentiality/availability impact per CVSS vector VC:N/VA:N). Real-world risk concentrates in multi-tenant Juju environments or scenarios where machine/controller compromise could pivot to application resource tampering. Single-tenant deployments with trusted authenticated users face minimal practical risk. Authentication prerequisite and low EPSS score suggest prioritization below remotely exploitable unauthenticated vulnerabilities, but organizations running Juju 2.9 or 3.6 branches should patch during normal maintenance windows. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker compromises credentials for a low-privilege Juju user account (e.g., read-only user, monitoring service account, or machine agent). Using authenticated API access to the Juju controller, the attacker issues resource modification commands targeting applications in other models or owned by other users within the same controller. Due to the authorization bypass, the controller accepts these operations despite the attacker lacking appropriate permissions. The attacker modifies application charm resources-such as configuration files, container images, or binaries-to inject backdoors, alter application behavior, or disrupt services. Network accessibility (AV:N) and low complexity (AC:L) mean exploitation requires only valid credentials and standard Juju client tools. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv2 – Apr 21, 2026
Unauthorized resource modification in Juju application orchestration engine allows any authenticated controller user to tamper with application resources across the entire controller scope. Affects Juju 2.9.0-2.9.55 and 3.6.0-3.6.18. Patched in versions 2.9.56 and 3.6.19. EPSS score of 0.01% suggests low probability of mass exploitation. No active exploitation confirmed (not in CISA KEV). Authentication requirement (PR:L) limits attack surface to compromised credentials or malicious insiders.
Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
Privilege escalation in Canonical Juju 2.9.0 through 3.6.18 allows any authenticated user, machine agent, or sub-controller to modify application resources across the entire Juju controller, bypassing intended authorization boundaries. CVSS 7.1 (High) with network-accessible attack vector and low complexity. EPSS data not provided; no public exploit identified at time of analysis. Vendor-released patches available in versions 2.9.56 and 3.6.19.
RemediationAI
Upgrade to Juju 2.9.56 (for 2.9.x deployments) or Juju 3.6.19 (for 3.6.x deployments). Vendor-released patches confirmed via GitHub advisory GHSA-245v-p8fj-vwm2 and commit 26ff93c903d55b0712c6fb3f6b254710edb971d4. Organizations should follow Juju's standard controller upgrade procedures documented at https://juju.is/docs. Until patching is complete, implement compensating controls: restrict Juju controller access to only essential trusted users and services via role-based access control, audit all application resource modifications through Juju controller logs for unauthorized changes, segment Juju models to limit blast radius of potential resource tampering (compromised model cannot affect others), and monitor for unexpected resource state changes using Juju status monitoring. Note that restricting network access to the controller API (typically port 17070) provides limited value since exploitation requires authenticated access rather than network reachability alone. No configuration-based workaround fully mitigates the authorization bypass-upgrade is the definitive remediation.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 3 packages in go, euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
Juju is Canonical's orchestration engine for deploying and managing cloud applications using 'charms' (operators). The vulnerability stems from improper authorization enforcement (CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization) in resource modification operations. Juju's architecture involves controllers managing multiple models, machines, and applications. The flaw allows privilege escalation within the controller boundary-authenticated entities (users, machine agents, or controller components) can modify application resources outside their intended authorization scope. This breaks Juju's role-based access control model, which should restrict resource operations to appropriately permissioned entities. The CPE string (cpe:2.3:a:juju:juju:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) confirms the core Juju engine is affected across two maintained version branches. The GitHub commit reference indicates the fix addresses authorization checks in resource handling code paths.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Primary rating from Vendor (GitHub_M).
CVSS VectorVendor: GitHub_M
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Juju is an open source application orchestration engine that enables any application operation on any infrastructure at any scale through special operators called ‘charms’. From versions 2.9 to before 2.9.56 and 3.6 to before 3.6.19, any authenticated user, machine or controller under a Juju controller can modify the resources of an application within the entire controller. This issue has been patched in versions 2.9.56 and 3.6.19.
Executive ViewAI
CVE-2025-68153 affects Juju orchestration controllers and allows authenticated users to modify application resources across the entire infrastructure, creating insider threat and lateral movement risks within containerized deployments. Organizations running Juju 2.9.0-2.9.55 or 3.6.0-3.6.18 must patch immediately to prevent unauthorized tampering with mission-critical application configurations by compromised accounts or malicious operators.
Apply vendor patch. Until patching is complete: (1) Restrict controller access to essential personnel only and enforce MFA on all controller accounts; (2) Monitor controller audit logs for suspicious resource modification events; (3) Segment controller networks to limit lateral movement from compromised endpoints; (4) Implement resource integrity checks on critical applications and alerting for unexpected configuration changes.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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Same weakness CWE-863 – Incorrect Authorization
View allSame technique Authentication Bypass
View allVendor StatusVendor
SUSE
Severity: Moderate| Product | Status |
|---|---|
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 | Affected |
EUVD-2025-209211
GHSA-245v-p8fj-vwm2
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB