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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2023-22392

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.4 or later.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an adjacent, unauthenticated attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS). PTX3000, PTX5000, QFX10000, PTX1000, PTX10002, and PTX10004, PTX10008 and PTX10016 with LC110x FPCs do not support certain flow-routes. Once a flow-route is received over an established BGP session and an attempt is made to install the resulting filter into the PFE, FPC heap memory is leaked. The FPC heap memory can be monitored using the CLI command "show chassis fpc". The following syslog messages can be observed if the respective filter derived from a flow-route cannot be installed. expr_dfw_sfm_range_add:661 SFM packet-length Unable to get a sfm entry for updating the hw expr_dfw_hw_sfm_add:750 Unable to add the filter secondarymatch to the hardware expr_dfw_base_hw_add:52 Failed to add h/w sfm data. expr_dfw_base_hw_create:114 Failed to add h/w data. expr_dfw_base_pfe_inst_create:241 Failed to create base inst for sfilter 0 on PFE 0 for __flowspec_default_inet__ expr_dfw_flt_inst_change:1368 Failed to create __flowspec_default_inet__ on PFE 0 expr_dfw_hw_pgm_fnum:465 dfw_pfe_inst_old not found for pfe_index 0! expr_dfw_bp_pgm_flt_num:548 Failed to pgm bind-point in hw: generic failure expr_dfw_bp_topo_handler:1102 Failed to program fnum. expr_dfw_entry_process_change:679 Failed to change instance for filter __flowspec_default_inet__. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: on PTX1000, PTX10002, and PTX10004, PTX10008 and PTX10016 with LC110x FPCs: * All versions prior to 20.4R3-S5; * 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4; * 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S2; * 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2-S2, 21.4R3; * 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R1-S2, 22.1R2. on PTX3000, PTX5000, QFX10000: * All versions prior to 20.4R3-S8; * 21.1 version 21.1R1 and later versions; * 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S6; * 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S4; * 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S3 * 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3-S1 * 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3 * 22.4 versions prior to 22.4R2.

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 memory leak vulnerability exists in the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) of Juniper Networks Junos OS on PTX and QFX platforms with LC110x FPCs. When certain flow-routes are received over BGP and the system attempts to install derived filters into the PFE, FPC heap memory is allocated but never released, causing memory exhaustion and eventual denial of service.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Junos OS patches for the affected versions listed; monitor FPC heap memory using 'show chassis fpc' CLI command to detect the leak via the provided syslog messages.

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= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3= 21.4= 22.1= 22.2= 22.3= 22.4

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 platform and FPC type
    Execute 'show chassis hardware' or 'show chassis fpc' and verify the device is a PTX or QFX platform with LC110x line card FPCs installed
    Affected if Device is NOT a PTX or QFX platform with LC110x FPCs - not vulnerable
  2. Check Junos OS version
    Execute 'show version' to obtain the installed Junos OS version and compare against affected versions: < 20.4, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, 22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 22.4
    Affected if Installed version matches one of the affected version ranges listed - potentially vulnerable
  3. Verify BGP flow-route configuration
    Execute 'show bgp summary' and 'show routing-options flow' to determine if BGP is configured to receive or advertise flow routes
    Affected if BGP is configured with flow-routes and the device meets hardware/version criteria - vulnerable condition present
  4. Monitor FPC heap memory
    Execute 'show chassis fpc' repeatedly over time to observe FPC heap memory usage; check for syslog messages related to PFE memory exhaustion
    Affected if FPC heap memory shows continuous growth without release, or syslog indicates PFE memory exhaustion - actively exploited or in leak state

User is affected if they run Junos OS versions 20.4 through 22.4 on PTX or QFX platforms with LC110x FPCs and have BGP flow-routes configured, resulting in observable FPC memory growth.

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 the vendor-supplied Junos OS patches for the affected versions listed; monitor FPC heap memory using 'show chassis fpc' CLI command to detect the leak via the provided syslog messages.

Recommended fix High confidence

20.4R3-S5 or later for PTX1000/PTX10002/PTX10004/PTX10008/PTX10016; 20.4R3-S8 or later for PTX3000/PTX5000/QFX10000 (or later Service Release/Version branches as applicable)

  1. 1. Identify the specific hardware platform (PTX3000, PTX5000, QFX10000, PTX1000, PTX10002, PTX10004, PTX10008, or PTX10016) and verify it uses LC110x FPCs.
  2. 2. Determine the current Junos OS version running on the device using the CLI command: show version
  3. 3. If running PTX1000, PTX10002, PTX10004, PTX10008, or PTX10016 with LC110x FPCs: upgrade to 20.4R3-S5 or later, 21.1R3-S4 or later, 21.2R3-S2 or later, 21.3R3 or later, 21.4R2-S2/21.4R3 or later, or 22.1R1-S2/22.1R2 or later.
  4. 4. If running PTX3000, PTX5000, or QFX10000: upgrade to 20.4R3-S8 or later, 21.2R3-S6 or later, 21.3R3-S5 or later, 21.4R3-S4 or later, 22.1R3-S3 or later, 22.2R3-S1 or later, 22.3R2-S2/22.3R3 or later, or 22.4R2 or later.
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the fix by monitoring FPC heap memory using: show chassis fpc
  6. 6. Check for the presence of syslog messages indicating filter installation failures to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.
Caveat Review Juniper upgrade documentation for any compatibility considerations; ensure the target version supports all installed hardware modules

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

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation5.0 h
  • Implementation10.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
23.0 hours of engineering $4,090
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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-2023-22392 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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