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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2023-28964

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.1 / 20.1 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 Length Parameter Inconsistency vulnerability in the routing protocol daemon (rpd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a network based, unauthenticated attacker to cause an RPD crash leading to a Denial of Service (DoS). Continued receipt and processing of this packet will create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. Upon receipt of a malformed BGP flowspec update, RPD will crash resulting in a Denial of Service. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: All versions prior to 18.1R3-S11; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3-S6; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R3-S4; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R3-S6; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R3-S4; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R3-S1; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S1; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R2; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R2; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R1-S1, 20.3R2; Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved: All versions prior to 20.1R3-EVO; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R2-EVO; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R2-EVO;

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 vulnerability in Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved's routing protocol daemon (rpd) allows an unauthenticated, network-based attacker to send malformed BGP flowspec updates that trigger an RPD crash, causing Denial of Service. The improper handling of length parameter inconsistency in the BGP flowspec parsing leads to a crash that can be repeatedly exploited for sustained DoS.

MitigationApply Juniper-supplied software patches/updates to address the vulnerable code paths in rpd. As an interim measure, consider filtering or disabling BGP flowspec feature at network edge if not required, and implement BGP route filtering/validation.

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:< 18.1= 18.1= 18.2= 18.3= 18.4= 19.1= 19.2= 19.3= 19.4= 20.1= 20.2= 20.3
Junos Os EvolvedOperating system
Affected:< 20.1= 20.1= 20.2= 20.3

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
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. Identify Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' command on the device CLI to retrieve the installed Junos OS version.
    Affected if The version matches any of these: Junos < 18.1, = 18.1, = 18.2, = 18.3, = 18.4, = 19.1, = 19.2, = 19.3, = 19.4, = 20.1, = 20.2, = 20.3 (for Junos OS); or Junos OS Evolved < 20.1, = 20.1, = 20.2, = 20.3 (for Junos OS Evolved).
  2. Verify BGP protocol is enabled
    Run 'show configuration protocols bgp' to check if BGP is configured and active on the device.
    Affected if BGP is configured and running, making the device a potential target for malformed BGP packets.
  3. Check if BGP flowspec family is enabled
    Run 'show configuration protocols bgp family inet flow' or inspect the BGP group configuration for 'family inet flow' to see if flowspec is configured.
    Affected if BGP flowspec (family inet flow) is enabled in any BGP group or neighbor configuration, as this is the specific feature that processes the vulnerable flowspec updates.
  4. Inspect flowspec-specific configuration
    Run 'show configuration routing-options flow' to check for flowspec route definitions, and review any flowspec-related policies or term configurations under BGP.
    Affected if Flowspec routes or policies are defined, indicating active use of the feature that triggers the vulnerable code path in rpd.

The device is affected if it runs a vulnerable Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version listed above AND has BGP flowspec (family inet flow) enabled in the configuration.

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 18.1 / 20.1 or later
Fixed in 18.120.1
Interim mitigation

Apply Juniper-supplied software patches/updates to address the vulnerable code paths in rpd. As an interim measure, consider filtering or disabling BGP flowspec feature at network edge if not required, and implement BGP route filtering/validation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Junos OS: upgrade to 18.1R3-S11, 18.2R3-S6, 18.3R3-S4, 18.4R3-S6, 19.1R3-S4, 19.2R3-S1, 19.3R3-S1, 19.4R3, 20.1R2, 20.2R2, 20.3R2 or later | Junos OS Evolved: upgrade to 20.1R3-EVO, 20.2R2-EVO, 20.3R2-EVO or later

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version running on the device using 'show version' command
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate fixed release based on the current version branch (see upgrade_path)
  3. 3. Download the corresponding fixed Junos OS/Evolved image from Juniper Networks support portal (supportportal.juniper.net)
  4. 4. Upload the image to the device using 'request system software add <path-to-image>' command
  5. 5. Reboot the device using 'request system reboot' command to apply the software update
  6. 6. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version' and confirm the fix is applied
  7. 7. Monitor the routing protocol daemon (rpd) process and BGP peers to ensure stability
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade precautions apply - review release notes for any changes to features or configuration syntax, and plan for appropriate maintenance window

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

Fix this in Junos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2023-28964 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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