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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2023-28965

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-17
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 Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions within the storm control feature of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an attacker sending a high rate of traffic to cause a Denial of Service. Continued receipt and processing of these packets will create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. Storm control monitors the level of applicable incoming traffic and compares it with the level specified. If the combined level of the applicable traffic exceeds the specified level, the switch drops packets for the controlled traffic types. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on QFX10002: All versions prior to 19.3R3-S7; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3-S11; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S6; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S5; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S3; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3; 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2.

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 vulnerability in the storm control feature of Juniper Networks Junos OS on QFX10002 switches allows an attacker sending high-rate traffic to cause a Denial of Service due to improper handling of exceptional conditions. The storm control feature fails to properly process the incoming traffic, leading to a sustained DoS condition.

MitigationUpgrade Junos OS to the fixed versions (19.3R3-S7 and later, 19.4R3-S11 and later, 20.2R3-S6 and later, 20.4R3-S5 and later, 21.1R3-S4 and later, 21.2R3-S3 and later, 21.3R3 and later, or 21.4R2 and later) as specified in the Juniper advisory.

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= 20.2= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3= 21.4

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
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 the device model
    Run 'show chassis hardware' or check the physical device labeling to confirm the model is QFX10002
    Affected if Device is not a QFX10002 switch - the vulnerability only affects QFX10002
  2. Check the Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' to obtain the installed Junos OS version
    Affected if Version matches one of the affected releases: 19.3, 19.4, 20.2, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, or any version prior to 19.3
  3. Verify storm control configuration
    Run 'show configuration storm-control' or inspect the storm control configuration in the switch
    Affected if Storm control is enabled or configured on any interface - the vulnerability triggers when storm control processes incoming traffic
  4. Confirm the combination of factors
    Cross-reference: QFX10002 device + affected Junos version + active storm control configuration
    Affected if All three conditions are true: QFX10002 hardware, affected Junos version, and storm control feature is in use

A user is affected if they operate a QFX10002 switch running an affected Junos version (19.3 through 21.4) with storm control configured, as the DoS requires the storm control feature to process the incoming high-rate traffic.

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

Upgrade Junos OS to the fixed versions (19.3R3-S7 and later, 19.4R3-S11 and later, 20.2R3-S6 and later, 20.4R3-S5 and later, 21.1R3-S4 and later, 21.2R3-S3 and later, 21.3R3 and later, or 21.4R2 and later) as specified in the Juniper advisory.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the minimum fixed version for your branch: 19.3R3-S7 (19.3 branch), 19.4R3-S11 (19.4 branch), 20.2R3-S6 (20.2 branch), 20.4R3-S5 (20.4 branch), 21.1R3-S4 (21.1 branch), 21.2R3-S3 (21.2 branch), 21.3R3 (21.3 branch), or 21.4R2 (21.4 branch)

  1. Identify the current Junos OS version by running 'show version' on the device
  2. Determine which branch (19.3, 19.4, 20.2, etc.) your current version belongs to
  3. Download the appropriate fixed release from supportportal.juniper.net based on your branch: For 19.3 branch (QFX10002): 19.3R3-S7 or later; For 19.4 branch: 19.4R3-S11 or later; For 20.2 branch: 20.2R3-S6 or later; For 20.4 branch: 20.4R3-S5 or later; For 21.1 branch: 21.1R3-S4 or later; For 21.2 branch: 21.2R3-S3 or later; For 21.3 branch: 21.3R3 or later; For 21.4 branch: 21.4R2 or later
  4. Upload the upgrade package to the device using FTP/SCP or USB
  5. Initiate the software installation using 'request system software add <package>'
  6. Reboot the device to apply the upgrade using 'request system reboot'
  7. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version' and confirm storm control functionality is operational
Caveat Review Juniper release notes for any potential compatibility issues or configuration changes before upgrading; ensure adequate downtime window for the upgrade and reboot process

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
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2023-28965 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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