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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2023-22413

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.4 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 Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in the IPsec library of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows a network-based, unauthenticated attacker to cause Denial of Service (DoS). On all MX platforms with MS-MPC or MS-MIC card, when specific IPv4 packets are processed by an IPsec6 tunnel, the Multiservices PIC Management Daemon (mspmand) process will core and restart. This will lead to FPC crash. Traffic flow is impacted while mspmand restarts. Continued receipt of these specific packets will cause a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. This issue only occurs if an IPv4 address is not configured on the multiservice interface. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series All versions prior to 19.4R3-S9; 20.1 version 20.1R3-S5 and later versions; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S5; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S5; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S4; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S3; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S1; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3; 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2-S1, 21.4R3; 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R2.

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

Improper check/handling of exceptional conditions in Junos OS IPsec library on MX platforms with MS-MPC/MS-MIC cards. When specific IPv4 packets are processed by an IPsec6 tunnel without an IPv4 address configured on the multiservice interface, the mspmand process cores and restarts, causing FPC crashes and sustained DoS.

MitigationApply Junos OS software updates per the vendor's version matrix. As a workaround, ensure an IPv4 address is configured on the multiservice interface to prevent trigger condition.

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= 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. Verify MX platform and MS-MPC/MS-MIC card presence
    Run 'show chassis hardware' or 'show chassis fpc' to confirm the device is an MX Series router with MS-MPC or MS-MIC cards installed.
    Affected if The device is an MX Series with MS-MPC/MS-MIC cards installed.
  2. Confirm affected Junos version
    Run 'show version' to obtain the installed Junos OS version.
    Affected if Version matches any of: <19.4, 19.4, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, or 22.1.
  3. Identify active IPsec6 tunnels
    Run 'show security ipsec security-association' or 'show security ipsec tunnel' to list configured IPsec tunnels. Look for tunnels with 'ipv6' in the local-address or remote-address fields.
    Affected if An IPsec6 tunnel is configured and active.
  4. Check multiservice interface IPv4 address
    Run 'show interfaces ms-*' (e.g., 'show interfaces ms-0/0/0') and look for the 'inet' address configuration in the output.
    Affected if The multiservice interface has NO IPv4 address configured (the inet address section is empty or missing).

User is affected if running a vulnerable Junos version on MX with MS-MPC/MS-MIC, with an active IPsec6 tunnel and no IPv4 address configured on the multiservice interface.

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 19.4 or later
Fixed in 19.4
Interim mitigation

Apply Junos OS software updates per the vendor's version matrix. As a workaround, ensure an IPv4 address is configured on the multiservice interface to prevent trigger condition.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the fixed release for your version branch (e.g., 19.4R3-S9, 20.1R3-S5, 20.2R3-S5, 20.3R3-S5, 20.4R3-S4, 21.1R3-S3, 21.2R3-S1, 21.3R3, 21.4R2-S1/21.4R3, or 22.1R2 or later)

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS version running on the MX Series device with MS-MPC or MS-MIC cards using the command: show version
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on the current version branch (19.4, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, or 22.1)
  3. 3. Download the corresponding fixed release from the Juniper Networks support portal: 19.4R3-S9 or later, 20.1R3-S5 or later, 20.2R3-S5 or later, 20.3R3-S5 or later, 20.4R3-S4 or later, 21.1R3-S3 or later, 21.2R3-S1 or later, 21.3R3 or later, 21.4R2-S1/21.4R3 or later, or 22.1R2 or later
  4. 4. Upload the Junos OS upgrade package to the device using: file copy <source> /var/tmp/
  5. 5. Initiate the upgrade with the command: request system software add /var/tmp/<package-name> reboot
  6. 6. After reboot, verify the new version is installed: show version
  7. 7. Confirm the mspmand process is running normally: show system processes | match mspmand
Caveat Standard Junos OS upgrade considerations apply - verify compatibility with other installed modules and review release notes for any migration notes

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

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,080
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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-2023-22413 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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