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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2022-22236

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-18
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
An Access of Uninitialized Pointer vulnerability in SIP Application Layer Gateway (ALG) of Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and MX Series allows an unauthenticated, network-based attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS). When specific valid SIP packets are received the PFE will crash and restart. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and MX Series: 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S4; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S2; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S2; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R2-S2, 21.3R3; 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R1-S2, 21.4R2; 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R1-S1, 22.1R2. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS versions prior to 20.4R1.

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

An uninitialized pointer vulnerability exists in the SIP Application Layer Gateway (ALG) component of Juniper Junos OS on SRX Series and MX Series firewalls. When specific valid SIP packets are received, the uninitialized pointer causes the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) to crash and restart, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Junos OS to the fixed versions (20.4R3-S4, 21.1R3-S2, 21.2R3-S2, 21.3R2-S2/21.3R3, 21.4R1-S2/21.4R2, 22.1R1-S1/22.1R2 or later). Alternatively, disable SIP ALG if not required.

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:= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3= 21.4= 22.1

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. Confirm device is SRX or MX series
    Run 'show chassis hardware' or check device model via 'show version' output
    Affected if Device model is not SRX or MX series (vulnerability only affects these platforms)
  2. Check Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' and locate the Junos version string (e.g., 21.2R1.2)
    Affected if Version matches = 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, or 22.1 (exact versions)
  3. Verify SIP ALG is enabled
    Run 'show security alg sip' and check if SIP ALG status shows as enabled
    Affected if SIP ALG is enabled (vulnerability only triggers when SIP ALG is active)
  4. Check for PFE crash logs
    Run 'show log messages' | match 'PFE| crash' or 'show system crash' to look for recent PFE restarts
    Affected if Recent PFE crashes occurred and SIP traffic was processed (indicates possible exploitation)

Device is affected if it is an SRX or MX series running exactly version 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, or 22.1 with SIP ALG enabled.

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

Upgrade Junos OS to the fixed versions (20.4R3-S4, 21.1R3-S2, 21.2R3-S2, 21.3R2-S2/21.3R3, 21.4R1-S2/21.4R2, 22.1R1-S1/22.1R2 or later). Alternatively, disable SIP ALG if not required.

Recommended fix High confidence

20.4R3-S4, 21.1R3-S2, 21.2R3-S2, 21.3R3, 21.4R2, or 22.1R2 (depending on original version)

  1. Check current Junos OS version using 'show version' command
  2. Identify the installed Junos release train (20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, or 22.1)
  3. Upgrade to the minimum fixed version for your release train: 20.4R3-S4, 21.1R3-S2, 21.2R3-S2, 21.3R3, 21.4R2, or 22.1R2
  4. Download the appropriate Junos software image from the Juniper Networks support portal
  5. Transfer the image to the device and initiate upgrade with 'request system software add <package> reboot'
  6. After reboot, verify the new version with 'show version' and confirm SIP ALG functionality is restored
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade precautions apply - test in lab first, ensure configuration compatibility, and plan for potential downtime

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

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2022-22236 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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