dbcve.org
JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2022-22234

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.4 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An Improper Preservation of Consistency Between Independent Representations of Shared State vulnerability in the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows a locally authenticated attacker with low privileges to cause a Denial of Service (DoS). If the device is very busy for example while executing a series of show commands on the CLI one or more SFPs might not be detected anymore. The system then changes its state to "unplugged" which is leading to traffic impact and at least a partial DoS. Once the system is less busy the port states return to their actual value. Indicators of compromise are log messages about unplugged SFPs and corresponding syspld messages without any physical or environmental cause. These can be checked by issuing the following commands: user@device# show log messages | match unplugged %PFE-6: fpc0 sfp-0/1/2 SFP unplugged %PFE-6: fpc0 sfp-0/1/3 SFP unplugged The following log messages will also be seen when this issue happens: fpc0 Error tvp_drv_syspld_read: syspld read failed for address <address> fpc0 Error[-1]:tvp_optics_presence_get - Syspld read failed for port <pic/port> fpc0 optics pres failed(-1) for pic <pic> port <port> fpc0 tvp_drv_syspld_read: i2c access retry count 200 This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on EX2300 Series, EX3400 Series: All versions prior to 18.4R3-S11; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R3-S9; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S9, 19.2R3-S5; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S6; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S7, 19.4R3-S8; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3-S4; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S4; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S4; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S1; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R2; 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2.

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 Packet Forwarding Engine causes SFP ports to be falsely reported as unplugged during periods of high system load (e.g., while executing multiple show commands). The PFE fails to properly read SFP status via I2C, creating an inconsistency between actual hardware state and the system's representation. This causes transient traffic disruption until system load decreases.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied software updates for Junos OS on EX2300 and EX3400 series, upgrading to the specific fixed versions listed in the advisory (e.g., 18.4R3-S11, 19.4R3-S8, 20.4R3-S3, 21.4R2 and later).

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:< 18.4= 18.4= 19.1= 19.2= 19.3= 19.4= 20.1= 20.2= 20.3= 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

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. Check Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version detail' to display the installed Junos OS version.
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of the following: < 18.4; = 18.4; = 19.1; = 19.2; = 19.3; = 19.4; = 20.1; = 20.2; = 20.3; = 20.4; = 21.1; = 21.2
  2. Verify platform has SFP ports
    Run 'show chassis hardware' or 'show interface descriptions' to identify the hardware model and confirm SFP/SPF+ ports are present.
    Affected if The device is an EX2300 or EX3400 series switch with SFP ports.
  3. Check SFP port status for false unplugged reports
    Run 'show interface interface-name' (e.g., 'show interface ge-0/0/0') for SFP ports during normal operation, then repeat during periods of high system load or while executing multiple 'show' commands.
    Affected if SFP ports incorrectly report 'link down' or 'unplugged' status despite the optical module being physically present and functional.
  4. Correlate port status with system load
    Monitor CPU load with 'show system processes summary' or 'show system uptime' while observing SFP port status. Document any periods where high command execution or CPU load coincides with SFP port errors.
    Affected if SFP ports show spurious 'unplugged' or 'down' status specifically during or immediately after periods of elevated system load or multiple concurrent 'show' commands.

You are affected if your Junos version matches the affected list, you run EX2300/EX3400 hardware, and you observe SFP ports falsely reporting as unplugged during high system load.

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 18.4 or later
Fixed in 18.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied software updates for Junos OS on EX2300 and EX3400 series, upgrading to the specific fixed versions listed in the advisory (e.g., 18.4R3-S11, 19.4R3-S8, 20.4R3-S3, 21.4R2 and later).

Recommended fix High confidence

18.4R3-S11 (or later stable release) - select the minimum fixed version for your branch: 18.4→18.4R3-S11, 19.1→19.1R3-S9, 19.2→19.2R3-S5

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS version running on the device using 'show version' command
  2. 2. For Junos OS < 18.4: Upgrade to 18.4R3-S11 or later
  3. 3. For Junos OS 18.4: Upgrade to 18.4R3-S11 or later
  4. 4. For Junos OS 19.1: Upgrade to 19.1R3-S9 or later
  5. 5. For Junos OS 19.2: Upgrade to 19.2R3-S5 (or 19.2R1-S9) or later
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the fix by monitoring logs: show log messages | match unplugged
  7. 7. Confirm no false 'SFP unplugged' messages appear during high system load
Caveat Upgrading Junos OS may have compatibility considerations; review release notes for your hardware platform (EX2300/EX3400 series) before upgrading

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
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,096.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-22234 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2022-22234 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data