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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2022-22170

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-19
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 Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated networked attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by sending specific packets over VXLAN which cause heap memory to leak and on exhaustion the PFE to reset. The heap memory utilization can be monitored with the command: user@host> show chassis fpc This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S6, 19.4R3-S6; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3-S2; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S3; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S1; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R2. This issue does not affect versions of Junos OS prior to 19.4R1.

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 Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated attacker to cause heap memory leak by sending specific VXLAN packets, which eventually exhausts memory and triggers a PFE reset resulting in Denial of Service.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches for affected Junos OS versions (19.4R2-S6+, 20.1R3-S2+, 20.2R3-S3+, 20.3R3-S1+, 20.4R3+, 21.1R3+, 21.2R2+); monitor heap utilization using 'show chassis fpc' command as a temporary detection measure.

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:= 19.4= 20.1= 20.2= 20.3= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3

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. Verify Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version detail' to identify the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if Version matches 19.4, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3 from the affected versions list
  2. Confirm VXLAN is configured
    Run 'show configuration protocols vxlan' or search for VXLAN-related configuration using 'show configuration | match vxlan'
    Affected if VXLAN protocol is actively configured on the device
  3. Check PFE heap memory usage
    Run 'show chassis fpc' and examine the heap utilization percentages for each PFE, or use 'show system memory' to monitor memory consumption
    Affected if Heap memory shows abnormal growth or high utilization percentages that do not return to baseline
  4. Look for PFE reset events
    Run 'show chassis fpc' to check for any FPC or PFE that shows offline status or recent restarts, and review system logs with 'show log messages | last 100' for PFE reset entries
    Affected if Any PFE or FPC has been reset or shows unexpected offline status without manual intervention

A device is likely affected if it runs an affected Junos OS version (19.4 through 21.3), has VXLAN configured, and shows abnormal heap memory growth or PFE resets when receiving VXLAN traffic.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches for affected Junos OS versions (19.4R2-S6+, 20.1R3-S2+, 20.2R3-S3+, 20.3R3-S1+, 20.4R3+, 21.1R3+, 21.2R2+); monitor heap utilization using 'show chassis fpc' command as a temporary detection measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the minimum fixed release for your version branch: 19.4R3-S6, 20.1R3-S2, 20.2R3-S3, or 20.3R3-S1 (or later versions such as 20.4R3, 21.1R3, 21.2R2)

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS version running on the device using: show version
  2. 2. Determine which version branch (19.4, 20.1, 20.2, or 20.3) the device is running
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version from the Juniper Networks support portal: 19.4R3-S6 or later, 20.1R3-S2 or later, 20.2R3-S3 or later, or 20.3R3-S1 or later
  4. 4. Upload the Junos OS upgrade package to the device
  5. 5. Install the upgrade using: request system software add <package-name> reboot
  6. 6. After reboot, verify the fix by confirming the new version is installed: show version
  7. 7. Monitor heap memory utilization using: show chassis fpc to confirm the memory leak is resolved
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade risks apply - test in a lab environment first, as with any major software upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2022-22170 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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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data