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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2018-0004

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-01-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A sustained sequence of different types of normal transit traffic can trigger a high CPU consumption denial of service condition in the Junos OS register and schedule software interrupt handler subsystem when a specific command is issued to the device. This affects one or more threads and conversely one or more running processes running on the system. Once this occurs, the high CPU event(s) affects either or both the forwarding and control plane. As a result of this condition the device can become inaccessible in either or both the control and forwarding plane and stops forwarding traffic until the device is rebooted. The issue will reoccur after reboot upon receiving further transit traffic. Score: 5.7 MEDIUM (CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) For network designs utilizing layer 3 forwarding agents or other ARP through layer 3 technologies, the score is slightly higher. Score: 6.5 MEDIUM (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) If the following entry exists in the RE message logs then this may indicate the issue is present. This entry may or may not appear when this issue occurs. /kernel: Expensive timeout(9) function: Affected releases are Juniper Networks Junos OS: 12.1X46 versions prior to 12.1X46-D50; 12.3X48 versions prior to 12.3X48-D30; 12.3R versions prior to 12.3R12-S7; 14.1 versions prior to 14.1R8-S4, 14.1R9; 14.1X53 versions prior to 14.1X53-D30, 14.1X53-D34; 14.2 versions prior to 14.2R8; 15.1 versions prior to 15.1F6, 15.1R3; 15.1X49 versions prior to 15.1X49-D40; 15.1X53 versions prior to 15.1X53-D31, 15.1X53-D33, 15.1X53-D60. No other Juniper Networks products or platforms are affected by this issue.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A high CPU consumption DoS vulnerability in Junos OS register and schedule software interrupt handler subsystem. Triggered by sustained transit traffic combined with a specific device command, causing thread/process CPU exhaustion that affects both control and forwarding planes, making the device inaccessible and stopping traffic until reboot.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches/updates to the specific Junos OS versions listed (12.1X46-D50+, 12.3X48-D30+, 12.3R12-S7+, etc.) to address the interrupt handler flaw.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
JunosOperating system
Affected:= 12.1x46= 12.3x48= 12.3= 14.1= 14.1x53= 14.2= 15.1= 15.1x49= 15.1x53

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Junos OS version
    Execute 'show version' or 'show version detail' on the device CLI to obtain the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if The installed version matches 12.1X46, 12.3X48, 12.3, 14.1, 14.1X53, 14.2, 15.1, 15.1X49, or 15.1X53 (or falls within the range these versions represent)
  2. Confirm device has transit traffic
    Use 'show interfaces statistics' or 'show traffic-statistics' to verify the device is processing sustained transit traffic
    Affected if The device is actively forwarding transit traffic (not just management traffic)
  3. Check for the specific trigger command
    Review recent CLI commands executed on the device using 'show system users' or log analysis for the specific device command that triggers the vulnerability (refer to Juniper advisory for the exact command)
    Affected if The specific trigger command has been executed while sustained transit traffic is present
  4. Monitor CPU utilization
    Use 'show system processes extensive' or 'show chassis routing-engine' to observe CPU usage on control and forwarding planes
    Affected if CPU exhaustion is observed on control plane (rpd, syslogd, etc.) or forwarding plane processes, indicating the vulnerability may be triggered

The device is affected if it runs an affected Junos version listed above AND is processing sustained transit traffic AND the specific trigger command has been executed, resulting in high CPU consumption making the device inaccessible.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches/updates to the specific Junos OS versions listed (12.1X46-D50+, 12.3X48-D30+, 12.3R12-S7+, etc.) to address the interrupt handler flaw.

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-0004 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data