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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2020-1656

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The DHCPv6 Relay-Agent service, part of the Juniper Enhanced jdhcpd daemon shipped with Juniper Networks Junos OS has an Improper Input Validation vulnerability which will result in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition when a DHCPv6 client sends a specific DHPCv6 message allowing an attacker to potentially perform a Remote Code Execution (RCE) attack on the target device. Continuous receipt of the specific DHCPv6 client message will result in an extended Denial of Service (DoS) condition. If adjacent devices are also configured to relay DHCP packets, and are not affected by this issue and simply transparently forward unprocessed client DHCPv6 messages, then the attack vector can be a Network-based attack, instead of an Adjacent-device attack. No other DHCP services are affected. Receipt of the packet without configuration of the DHCPv6 Relay-Agent service, will not result in exploitability of this issue. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: 12.3 versions prior to 12.3R12-S15; 12.3X48 versions prior to 12.3X48-D95; 14.1X53 versions prior to 14.1X53-D53; 15.1 versions prior to 15.1R7-S6; 15.1X49 versions prior to 15.1X49-D200; 15.1X53 versions prior to 15.1X53-D593; 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R7-S7; 16.2 versions prior to 16.2R2-S11; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3-S2; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R3-S3; 17.2X75 versions prior to 17.2X75-D44; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R3-S7; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S9, 17.4R3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S9; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2-S6, 18.2R3-S2; 18.2X75 versions prior to 18.2X75-D12, 18.2X75-D33, 18.2X75-D435, 18.2X75-D60; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R1-S7, 18.3R2-S3, 18.3R3-S1; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R1-S5, 18.4R2-S3, 18.4R3; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R1-S4, 19.1R2; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S3, 19.2R2; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R2.

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

The DHCPv6 Relay-Agent service (jdhcpd daemon) in Juniper Junos OS contains an improper input validation vulnerability. A remote attacker can send a specifically crafted DHCPv6 message to cause a denial of service condition, and potentially achieve remote code execution. The attack requires the DHCPv6 Relay-Agent service to be configured on the target device.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Junos OS patches for the specific version running on the device. If the DHCPv6 Relay-Agent service is not required, disable it to eliminate the attack surface. Ensure adjacent network devices are also patched to prevent them from transparently forwarding malicious DHCPv6 messages.

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:= 12.3= 12.3x48= 14.1x53= 15.1= 15.1x49= 15.1x53= 16.1= 16.2= 17.1= 17.2= 17.2x75= 17.3

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Verify DHCPv6 Relay-Agent configuration
    Run 'show configuration protocols dhcpv6' or 'show configuration forwarding-options helpers dhcpv6' to check if DHCPv6 relay is configured
    Affected if DHCPv6 Relay-Agent is configured in the device configuration (the attack requires this service to be enabled)
  2. Confirm Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' to display the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the following: 12.3, 12.3x48, 14.1x53, 15.1, 15.1x49, 15.1x53, 16.1, 16.2, 17.1, 17.2, 17.2x75, or 17.3
  3. Check if jdhcpd daemon is running
    Run 'show system processes extensive | match jdhcpd' or 'ps aux | grep jdhcpd' to see if the DHCPv6 Relay-Agent daemon is actively running
    Affected if The jdhcpd process is running on the device

You are affected if your Junos OS version is one of the listed affected versions AND the DHCPv6 Relay-Agent service is configured and running on your device.

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 the specific version running on the device. If the DHCPv6 Relay-Agent service is not required, disable it to eliminate the attack surface. Ensure adjacent network devices are also patched to prevent them from transparently forwarding malicious DHCPv6 messages.

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2020-1656 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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