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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2022-22173

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.3 or later.
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 Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in the Public Key Infrastructure daemon (pkid) of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated networked attacker to cause Denial of Service (DoS). In a scenario where Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is used in combination with Certificate Revocation List (CRL), if the CRL fails to download the memory allocated to store the CRL is not released. Repeated occurrences will eventually consume all available memory and lead to an inoperable state of the affected system causing a DoS. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: All versions prior to 18.3R3-S6; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2-S9, 18.4R3-S10; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R2-S3, 19.1R3-S7; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S8, 19.2R3-S4; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S4; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S5, 19.4R3-S5; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3-S1; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S2; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S1; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R2, 21.1R3; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R1-S1, 21.2R2. This issue can be observed by monitoring the memory utilization of the pkid process via: root@jtac-srx1500-r2003> show system processes extensive | match pki 20931 root 20 0 733M 14352K select 0:00 0.00% pkid which increases over time: root@jtac-srx1500-r2003> show system processes extensive | match pki 22587 root 20 0 901M 181M select 0:03 0.00% pkid

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 memory leak vulnerability exists in the Public Key Infrastructure daemon (pkid) of Juniper Networks Junos OS. When PKI is used in combination with Certificate Revocation List (CRL), if the CRL fails to download, the memory allocated to store the CRL is not released. Repeated occurrences eventually consume all available memory, causing Denial of Service.

MitigationApply the appropriate Junos OS software update for your version as specified in the Juniper advisory. Monitor pkid process memory utilization to detect the leak. Schedule a maintenance window for the update to avoid operational disruption.

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:< 18.3= 18.3= 18.4= 19.1= 19.2= 19.3= 19.4= 20.1= 20.2= 20.3= 20.4= 21.1

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 Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version detail' to determine the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if The version matches one of the affected versions: < 18.3, 18.3, 18.4, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, or 21.1
  2. Confirm PKI is configured
    Run 'show security pki' to check if Public Key Infrastructure is configured on the device
    Affected if PKI is actively configured or has enrolled certificates
  3. Verify CRL usage is enabled
    Run 'show security pki ca-profile' and look for CRL-related configuration, or check 'request security pki crl' commands to see if CRL downloading is attempted
    Affected if CRL is configured or being fetched on any CA profile
  4. Monitor pkid process memory
    Run 'show system processes extensive | match pkid' or use 'show system memory' over time to observe pkid process memory consumption
    Affected if pkid process memory usage is abnormally high or continuously growing, especially after CRL download failures

The device is affected if it runs a vulnerable Junos version AND has PKI with CRL configured, with pkid showing elevated memory usage.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 18.3 or later
Fixed in 18.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Junos OS software update for your version as specified in the Juniper advisory. Monitor pkid process memory utilization to detect the leak. Schedule a maintenance window for the update to avoid operational disruption.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Junos OS 18.3R3-S6 or later (18.4R2-S9/18.4R3-S10 for 18.4 branch, 19.1R2-S3/19.1R3-S7 for 19.1 branch); prefer latest stable release in each branch

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS version by running: show version
  2. 2. Plan maintenance window as this upgrade requires system restart
  3. 3. Backup current configuration using: request system snapshot
  4. 4. Download the appropriate fixed Junos OS version from Juniper Networks (18.3R3-S6 or later for 18.3 branch, 18.4R2-S9/18.4R3-S10 or later for 18.4 branch, 19.1R2-S3/19.1R3-S7 or later for 19.1 branch)
  5. 5. Upload the new Junos OS image to the device via FTP/SCP
  6. 6. Install the upgrade using: request system software add <package-name> reboot
  7. 7. After reboot, verify the new version: show version
  8. 8. Verify pkid process memory usage has stabilized: show system processes extensive | match pki
Caveat Standard Junos OS upgrade considerations apply - review Junos OS upgrade guide for compatibility and ensure configuration compatibility before upgrading; some legacy PKI configurations may need review after 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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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-2022-22173 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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