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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2022-22240

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.4 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 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling and a Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in the routing protocol daemon (rpd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a locally authenticated low privileged attacker to cause a Denial of Sevice (DoS). In a high-scaled BGP routing environment with rib-sharding enabled, two issues may occur when executing a specific CLI command. One is a memory leak issue with rpd where the leak rate is not constant, and the other is a temporary spike in rpd memory usage during command execution. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3-S9; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S5; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S2; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S1; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R1-S2, 21.2R2-S1, 21.2R3; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R2. Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved All versions prior to 20.4R3-S1-EVO; 21.1-EVO version 21.1R1-EVO and later versions; 21.2-EVO versions prior to 21.2R1-S2-EVO, 21.2R3-EVO; 21.3-EVO versions prior to 21.3R2-EVO. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS versions prior to 19.2R1.

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 and temporary memory spike in the routing protocol daemon (rpd) of Juniper Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved occurs when a specific CLI command is executed in high-scaled BGP environments with rib-sharding enabled. A locally authenticated low-privileged attacker can trigger this to cause DoS through memory exhaustion.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patches to affected Junos OS/Evolved versions; avoid the triggering CLI command in affected versions until patched; consider disabling rib-sharding 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:= 19.4= 20.2= 20.3= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3
Junos Os EvolvedOperating system
Affected:< 20.4= 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
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' command to obtain the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if Version matches 19.4, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3 (for Junos) or is <20.4, =20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3 (for Junos OS Evolved)
  2. Verify rib-sharding configuration
    Run 'show configuration routing-options rib-sharding' or 'show configuration protocols bgp rib-sharding' to check if rib-sharding is enabled
    Affected if rib-sharding is configured and enabled in the BGP or routing-options configuration
  3. Check BGP scale
    Run 'show bgp summary' or 'show bgp neighbor' to count the number of BGP peers and routes in the routing table
    Affected if BGP is deployed at high scale with many peers or large routing tables (high-scaled environment)
  4. Inspect rpd memory usage
    Run 'show system processes extensive | match rpd' or 'show system memory' to check rpd process memory consumption
    Affected if rpd is consuming unusually high memory or showing continuous memory growth
  5. Check for recent rpd restarts or memory exhaustion events
    Run 'show system core-dumps' and review system logs (/var/log/messages) for rpd crash or memory exhaustion entries
    Affected if rpd has restarted recently or logs show memory exhaustion related to rpd

The environment is likely affected if the Junos version is in the affected list AND rib-sharding is enabled AND BGP is operating at high scale, particularly if abnormal rpd memory consumption is observed.

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 20.4 or later
Fixed in 20.4
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-provided patches to affected Junos OS/Evolved versions; avoid the triggering CLI command in affected versions until patched; consider disabling rib-sharding if not required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Junos OS: 19.4R3-S9/20.2R3-S5/20.3R3-S2/20.4R3-S1/21.1R3/21.2R3/21.3R2; Junos OS Evolved: 20.4R3-S1-EVO/21.2R3-EVO/21.3R2-EVO

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version by running 'show version' or 'show version detail'
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate fixed release based on the current version branch: For 19.4 branch upgrade to 19.4R3-S9 or later; For 20.2 branch upgrade to 20.2R3-S5 or later; For 20.3 branch upgrade to 20.3R3-S2 or later; For 20.4 branch upgrade to 20.4R3-S1 or later; For 21.1 branch upgrade to 21.1R3 or later; For 21.2 branch upgrade to 21.2R3 (or 21.2R1-S2/21.2R2-S1); For 21.3 branch upgrade to 2
  3. 3. Download the appropriate Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved software bundle from the Juniper Networks support portal (kb.juniper.net)
  4. 4. Transfer the software package to the device using SCP or USB
  5. 5. Run 'request system software add <package_name>' to install the upgrade
  6. 6. Reboot the device using 'request system reboot' after installation completes
  7. 7. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version'
  8. 8. Confirm rpd process memory usage is stable using 'show system processes extensive | match rpd'
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade precautions apply - ensure configuration backup and plan maintenance window as upgrade may cause brief routing disruption

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

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
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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-2022-22240 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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