I absolutely assume that if the backdoor was placed by a vendor, they would make sure it was a one-way function. I (perhaps incorrectly) assumed that criminals

I absolutely assume that if the backdoor was placed by a vendor, they would make sure it was a one-way function. I (perhaps incorrectly) assumed that criminals would want to stick in a hash function, given a choice. I think the explanation, that adding a hash function will attract more attention than a simple strcmp is a good one. As is the desire to stick in something that gets by code review. All signs point to this 100% not being Juniper engineering officially adding a back door, and it being a party doing it without authorization.