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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2021-0247

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-04-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 Race Condition (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization) vulnerability in the firewall process (dfwd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an attacker to bypass the firewall rule sets applied to the input loopback filter on any interfaces of a device. This issue is detectable by reviewing the PFE firewall rules, as well as the firewall counters and seeing if they are incrementing or not. For example: show firewall Filter: __default_bpdu_filter__ Filter: FILTER-INET-01 Counters: Name Bytes Packets output-match-inet 0 0 <<<<<< missing firewall packet count This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS 14.1X53 versions prior to 14.1X53-D53 on QFX Series; 14.1 versions 14.1R1 and later versions prior to 15.1 versions prior to 15.1R7-S6 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 15.1X53 versions prior to 15.1X53-D593 on QFX Series; 16.1 versions prior to 16.1R7-S7 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 16.2 versions prior to 16.2R2-S11, 16.2R3 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 17.1 versions prior to 17.1R2-S11, 17.1R3-S2 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 17.2 versions prior to 17.2R1-S9, 17.2R3-S3 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R2-S5, 17.3R3-S7 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S9, 17.4R3 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S9 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2-S6, 18.2R3-S3 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R1-S7, 18.3R2-S3, 18.3R3-S1 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R1-S5, 18.4R2-S3, 18.4R2-S7, 18.4R3 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R1-S4, 19.1R2-S1, 19.1R3 on QFX Series, PTX Series; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S3, 19.2R2 on QFX Series, PTX Series.

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 race condition in the Juniper Networks Junos OS firewall process (dfwd) allows attackers to bypass firewall rule sets applied to input loopback filters. The vulnerability manifests as firewall counters showing zero packets when they should be incrementing, indicating the filter is not being applied despite being configured.

MitigationUpgrade Junos OS to the specific fixed versions listed for each release branch (e.g., 14.1X53-D53, 15.1R7-S6, 16.1R7-S7, etc.). Review firewall counter outputs using 'show firewall' to detect if the bypass has occurred.

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:= 14.1x53= 15.1x53= 14.1= 14.2= 15.1= 16.1= 16.2= 17.1= 17.2= 17.3= 17.4= 18.1

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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L

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 Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version detail' to retrieve the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if The version matches any of the affected releases: 14.1x53, 15.1x53, 14.1, 14.2, 15.1, 16.1, 16.2, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, or 18.1
  2. Confirm input loopback firewall filters are configured
    Run 'show configuration interfaces lo0' and look for 'filter' statements under 'input' hierarchy
    Affected if Input filters are applied to the loopback interface (lo0)
  3. Check firewall filter counters for anomalies
    Run 'show firewall filter <filter-name>' and examine the counter values for the input filter on loopback
    Affected if Counters show zero packets despite traffic being known to match the filter criteria, indicating the bypass condition
  4. Verify dfwd process is running
    Run 'show system processes extensive | match dfwd' to confirm the firewall daemon is active
    Affected if The dfwd process is running (required for the vulnerability to manifest)

The environment is affected if running a vulnerable Junos version (14.1x53 through 18.1), has input loopback filters configured, and firewall counters unexpectedly show zero packets for traffic that should be matched.

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

Upgrade Junos OS to the specific fixed versions listed for each release branch (e.g., 14.1X53-D53, 15.1R7-S6, 16.1R7-S7, etc.). Review firewall counter outputs using 'show firewall' to detect if the bypass has occurred.

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-2021-0247 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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