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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2022-22215

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.1 / 20.4 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit 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 File Descriptor or Handle after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in plugable authentication module (PAM) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a locally authenticated attacker with low privileges to cause a Denial of Service (DoS). It is possible that after the termination of a gRPC connection the respective/var/run/<pid>.env file is not getting deleted which if occurring repeatedly can cause inode exhaustion. Inode exhaustion can present itself in two different ways: 1. The following log message can be observed: host kernel: pid <pid> (<process>), uid <uid> inumber <number> on /.mount/var: out of inodes which by itself is a clear indication. 2. The following log message can be observed: host <process>[<pid>]: ... : No space left on device which is not deterministic and just a representation of a write error which could have several reasons. So the following check needs to be done: user@host> show system storage no-forwarding Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on /dev/ada1p1 475M 300M 137M 69% /.mount/var which indicates that the write error is not actually due to a lack of disk space. If either 1. or 2. has been confirmed, then the output of: user@host> file list /var/run/*.env | count need to be checked and if it indicates a high (>10000) number of files the system has been affected by this issue. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS All versions prior to 19.1R3-S8; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R3-S6; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S5; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S6, 19.4R3-S7; 20.1 version 20.1R1 and later versions; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S5; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S4; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R2. Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved All versions prior to 20.4R3-EVO; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S1-EVO; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R1-S1-EVO, 21.2R2-EVO.

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

A 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
JunosOperating system
Affected:< 19.1= 19.1= 19.2= 19.3= 19.4= 20.1= 20.2= 20.3= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2
Junos Os EvolvedOperating system
Affected:< 20.4= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 19.1 / 20.4 or later
Fixed in 19.120.4
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the minimum fixed release for your current branch (e.g., 19.1R3-S8, 19.2R3-S6, 19.3R3-S5, 19.4R3-S7, 20.2R3-S5, 20.3R3-S4, 20.4R3, 21.1R3, 21.2R2 or later for Junos OS; or 20.4R3-EVO, 21.1R3-S1-EVO, 21.2R2-EVO or later for Junos OS Evolved)

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version running on the device using 'show version'
  2. 2. Based on the current version line, determine the minimum fixed release needed: For 19.1.x upgrade to 19.1R3-S8 or later; For 19.2.x upgrade to 19.2R3-S6 or later; For 19.3.x upgrade to 19.3R3-S5 or later; For 19.4.x upgrade to 19.4R2-S6 or 19.4R3-S7 or later; For 20.2.x upgrade to 20.2R3-S5 or later; For 20.3.x upgrade to 20.3R3-S4 or later; For 20.4.x upgrade to 20.4R3 or later; For 21.1.x upg
  3. 3. For Junos OS Evolved: If on 20.4.x upgrade to 20.4R3-EVO or later; If on 21.1.x upgrade to 21.1R3-S1-EVO or later; If on 21.2.x upgrade to 21.2R2-EVO or later
  4. 4. Download the appropriate Junos upgrade package from the Juniper Networks support portal
  5. 5. Back up the current configuration using 'request system backup' or 'file copy' to a secure location
  6. 6. Initiate the upgrade using 'request system software add <package>' with the appropriate options for the platform
  7. 7. After upgrade completes, reboot the device if required and verify the new version is running with 'show version'
  8. 8. Verify the fix by checking that /var/run/*.env files are being properly cleaned up after gRPC session termination
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for your specific version jump for any migration or compatibility notices

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-22215 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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