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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2023-22394

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.3 or later.
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 Improper Handling of Unexpected Data Type vulnerability in the handling of SIP calls in Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and MX Series platforms allows an attacker to cause a memory leak leading to Denial of Services (DoS). This issue occurs on all MX Series platforms with MS-MPC or MS-MIC card and all SRX Series platforms where SIP ALG is enabled. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability prevents additional SIP calls and applications from succeeding. The SIP ALG needs to be enabled, either implicitly / by default or by way of configuration. To confirm whether SIP ALG is enabled on SRX use the following command: user@host> show security alg status | match sip SIP : Enabled This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and on MX Series: All versions prior to 19.3R3-S7; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S8, 19.4R3-S10; 20.1 versions 20.1R1 and later versions; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S6; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S6; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S5; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S5; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S1; 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, 22.1R3-S1. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and on MX Series: All versions prior to 18.2R1.

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

This is a memory leak vulnerability in the SIP ALG (Application Layer Gateway) on Juniper SRX and MX platforms. When processing SIP calls with unexpected data types, the device fails to properly handle the data, causing memory to accumulate without proper deallocation. Over time, this exhausts available memory, leading to denial of service. The vulnerability requires SIP ALG to be enabled, which is the default on affected SRX platforms and MX Series with MS-MPC/MS-MIC cards.

MitigationIf SIP ALG is not required, disable it using 'delete security alg sip' at the [edit security] hierarchy level. Otherwise, apply the vendor-supplied software update for your version branch. Verify SIP ALG status using 'show security alg status | match sip'.

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:< 19.3= 19.3= 19.4= 20.1= 20.2= 20.3= 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 SIP ALG is enabled on the device
    Run the command 'show security alg status | match sip' from operational mode. Look for 'SIP' in the output with a status indicating it is enabled or active.
    Affected if SIP ALG is enabled - the vulnerability only affects devices where SIP ALG is active (enabled by default on SRX platforms and MX Series with MS-MPC/MS-MIC cards). If SIP ALG shows as disabled, the device is not vulnerable to this specific issue.
  2. Identify the installed Junos version
    Run the command 'show version' from operational mode to display the software version information. Note the full version string shown in the output.
    Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions: 19.3, 19.4, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, or 22.1 (or any version lower than 19.3). Compare your installed version against these specific version numbers to determine if your device falls within the affected range.
  3. Verify the device model is an affected platform
    Run the command 'show chassis hardware' or 'show version' to identify the device model. Confirm whether the device is an SRX platform or an MX Series router with MS-MPC/MS-MIC cards.
    Affected if The device is an SRX Series (where SIP ALG is enabled by default) or an MX Series with MS-MPC or MS-MIC cards installed. Other Juniper platforms are not affected by this specific vulnerability.

A device is affected by CVE-2023-22394 if it is an SRX or MX Series (with MS-MPC/MS-MIC) running a vulnerable Junos version (19.3 through 22.1) AND has SIP ALG enabled (the default state on affected SRX platforms).

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 19.3 or later
Fixed in 19.3
Interim mitigation

If SIP ALG is not required, disable it using 'delete security alg sip' at the [edit security] hierarchy level. Otherwise, apply the vendor-supplied software update for your version branch. Verify SIP ALG status using 'show security alg status | match sip'.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to 19.3R3-S7 or later (for 19.3 branch); 19.4R2-S8/19.4R3-S10 or later (for 19.4 branch); or the corresponding fixed S-release or later for 20.x, 21.x, 22.x branches

  1. 1. Verify current Junos OS version using: show version
  2. 2. Identify the current release branch (e.g., 19.3, 19.4, 20.1, etc.)
  3. 3. Determine the appropriate fixed version for your branch: For 19.3x upgrade to 19.3R3-S7 or later; For 19.4x upgrade to 19.4R2-S8 or 19.4R3-S10 or later; For 20.1x upgrade to 20.1R3-S6 or later; For 20.2x upgrade to 20.2R3-S6 or later; For 20.3x upgrade to 20.3R3-S6 or later; For 20.4x upgrade to 20.4R3-S5 or later; For 21.1x upgrade to 21.1R3-S5 or later; For 21.2x upgrade to 21.2R3-S1 or later
  4. 4. Plan maintenance window as upgrade requires device reboot
  5. 5. Download the target fixed Junos OS version from Juniper Networks
  6. 6. Upload the Junos OS image to the device
  7. 7. Install the upgrade using: request system software add <package name> reboot
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new version: show version
Caveat Standard Junos OS upgrade considerations apply - review Juniper release notes for any migration warnings, and plan for reboot 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
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2023-22394 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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