CVE-2021-31366
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 · uneditedAn Unchecked Return Value vulnerability in the authd (authentication daemon) of Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series configured for subscriber management / BBE allows an adjacent attacker to cause a crash by sending a specific username. This impacts authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services on the MX devices and leads to a Denial of Service (DoS) condition. Continued receipted of these PPP login request will create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS 15.1 versions prior to 15.1R7-S9; 17.3 versions prior to 17.3R3-S12; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R3-S5; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S13; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3-S8; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R3-S5; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R3-S9; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R3-S6; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S7, 19.2R3-S3; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R2-S6, 19.3R3-S3; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3-S3; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S1; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R2.
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 analysisA detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.
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= 15.1= 17.3= 17.4= 18.1= 18.2= 18.3= 18.4= 19.1= 19.2= 19.3= 19.4= 20.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade to the fixed release for your branch: 15.1R7-S9, 17.3R3-S12, 17.4R3-S5, 18.1R3-S13, 18.2R3-S8, 18.3R3-S5, 18.4R3-S9, 19.1R3-S6, 19.2R3-S3, 19.3R3-S3, 19.4R3-S3, 20.1R3, 20.2R3-S1, 20.3R3, 20.4R3, or 21.1R2
- 1. Identify the current Junos OS version running on the MX Series device using 'show version' command
- 2. Identify the Junos release train (15.1X, 17.3, 17.4, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, or 21.1)
- 3. Determine the corresponding fixed release for your train from the vendor advisory: 15.1R7-S9, 17.3R3-S12, 17.4R3-S5, 18.1R3-S13, 18.2R3-S8, 18.3R3-S5, 18.4R3-S9, 19.1R3-S6, 19.2R3-S3, 19.3R3-S3, 19.4R3-S3, 20.1R3, 20.2R3-S1, 20.3R3, 20.4R3, or 21.1R2
- 4. Plan the upgrade following Juniper's recommended upgrade path (generally upgrade within the same release train sequentially)
- 5. Download the appropriate Junos upgrade image from the Juniper Networks website
- 6. Back up the current configuration using 'request system snapshot'
- 7. Upload the upgrade image to the device
- 8. Perform the upgrade using 'request system software add <package> reboot'
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-31366 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-31366 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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