dbcve.org
JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2020-1601

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-01-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Certain types of malformed Path Computation Element Protocol (PCEP) packets when received and processed by a Juniper Networks Junos OS device serving as a Path Computation Client (PCC) in a PCEP environment using Juniper's path computational element protocol daemon (pccd) process allows an attacker to cause the pccd process to crash and generate a core file thereby causing a Denial of Service (DoS). Continued receipt of this family of malformed PCEP packets will cause an extended Denial of Service (DoS) condition. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS: 15.1 versions prior to 15.1F6-S13, 15.1R7-S4; 15.1X49 versions prior to 15.1X49-D180 on SRX Series; 15.1X53 versions prior to 15.1X53-D238, 15.1X53-D496, 15.1X53-D592; 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R7-S4; 16.2 versions prior to 16.2R2-S9; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R1-S9; 17.2 version 17.2R2 and later prior to 17.2R3-S2; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R3-S3; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S2, 17.4R3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S2; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2-S6, 18.2R3; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D40; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R2; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R1-S2, 18.4R2. This issue does not affect releases of Junos OS prior to 15.1R1.

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 vulnerability in Juniper's path computation element protocol daemon (pccd) allows malformed PCEP packets to crash the process and generate a core file, causing denial of service. Repeated receipt of these crafted packets sustains the DoS condition.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Junos OS patches for affected versions (15.1F6-S13, 15.1R7-S4, 16.1R7-S4, etc.) or restrict PCEP traffic at network boundaries to untrusted sources.

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:= 15.1= 15.1x53= 16.1= 16.2= 17.1= 17.2= 17.3= 17.4= 18.1= 18.2= 18.2x75= 18.3

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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. Identify Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version detail' on the Juniper device CLI to obtain the installed Junos OS version.
    Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions: 15.1, 15.1x53, 16.1, 16.2, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, 18.1, 18.2, 18.2x75, or 18.3.
  2. Confirm PCEP protocol is enabled
    Run 'show configuration protocols pcep' to check if the Path Computation Element Protocol (PCEP) is configured on the device.
    Affected if PCEP is configured and active on the device.
  3. Verify pccd process status
    Run 'show system processes pccd' or check for recent crash logs related to the pccd process in /var/log/messages.
    Affected if The pccd process has crashed or core dump files exist for pccd.
  4. Inspect PCEP traffic exposure
    Review firewall filters and border router configurations to determine if PCEP traffic from untrusted sources can reach this device.
    Affected if PCEP traffic from untrusted or external sources is permitted to reach the device.

A device is affected if it runs a vulnerable Junos version (15.1-18.3 range), has PCEP protocol enabled, and either has already experienced pccd crashes or accepts PCEP traffic from untrusted sources.

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 Junos OS patches for affected versions (15.1F6-S13, 15.1R7-S4, 16.1R7-S4, etc.) or restrict PCEP traffic at network boundaries to untrusted sources.

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,760.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-1601 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-1601 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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