JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2020-1627

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-08
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
A vulnerability in Juniper Networks Junos OS on vMX and MX150 devices may allow an attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by sending specific packets requiring special processing in microcode that the flow cache can't handle, causing the riot forwarding daemon to crash. By continuously sending the same specific packets, an attacker can repeatedly crash the riot process causing a sustained Denial of Service. Flow cache is specific to vMX based products and the MX150, and is enabled by default in performance mode. This issue can only be triggered by traffic destined to the device. Transit traffic will not cause the riot daemon to crash. When the issue occurs, a core dump and riot log file entry are generated. For example: /var/crash/core.J-UKERN.mpc0.1557255993.3864.gz /home/pfe/RIOT logs: fpc0 riot[1888]: PANIC in lu_reorder_send_packet_postproc(): fpc0 riot[6655]: PANIC in lu_reorder_send_packet_postproc(): This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3 on vMX and MX150; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3 on vMX and MX150; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D60 on vMX and MX150; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R3 on vMX and MX150; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2 on vMX and MX150; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R2 on vMX and MX150. This issue does not affect Junos OS versions prior to 18.1R1.

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 Networks Junos OS on vMX and MX150 devices allows an attacker to cause Denial of Service by sending specific packets that the flow cache cannot handle, causing the riot forwarding daemon to crash. The attacker can repeatedly send these packets to sustain the DoS. This issue affects specific versions of Junos OS 18.1 through 19.1 on vMX and MX150 devices, and is triggered only by traffic destined to the device.

MitigationApply the appropriate Junos OS patch (18.1R3, 18.2R3, 18.2X75-D60, 18.3R3, 18.4R2, or 19.1R2 or later) to address this vulnerability. Consider disabling flow cache in performance mode as a temporary mitigation if patching is not immediately feasible.

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:= 18.1= 18.2= 18.2x75= 18.3= 18.4= 19.1

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 the device model
    Run 'show chassis hardware' or check the device documentation to confirm the model is vMX or MX150
    Affected if The device is a vMX or MX150; other Juniper devices are not affected by this specific vulnerability
  2. Check the Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version detail' to display the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if The version matches exactly 18.1, 18.2, 18.2x75, 18.3, 18.4, or 19.1 (including point releases like 18.1R1, 18.2R2, etc.)
  3. Verify traffic destined to the device triggers the condition
    Monitor for crash events in the riot forwarding daemon or check system logs for 'riot' daemon restarts after receiving specific packets
    Affected if The device experiences unexpected riot daemon crashes when receiving packets destined to the device interfaces

The device is affected if it is a vMX or MX150 running Junos OS version 18.1, 18.2, 18.2x75, 18.3, 18.4, or 19.1 and receives malicious packets targeting the flow cache handling.

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 appropriate Junos OS patch (18.1R3, 18.2R3, 18.2X75-D60, 18.3R3, 18.4R2, or 19.1R2 or later) to address this vulnerability. Consider disabling flow cache in performance mode as a temporary mitigation if patching is not immediately feasible.

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2020-1627 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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