CVE-2023-28982
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 · uneditedA Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in the routing protocol daemon of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows an unauthenticated, network based attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS). In a BGP rib sharding scenario, when an attribute of an active BGP route is updated memory will leak. As rpd memory usage increases over time the rpd process will eventually run out of memory, crash, and restart. The memory utilization can be monitored with the following CLI commands: show task memory show system processes extensive | match rpd This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S2; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S6; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R2. Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved 20.3-EVO version 20.3R1-EVO and later versions; 20.4-EVO versions prior to 20.4R3-S6-EVO; 21.2-EVO versions prior to 21.2R3-EVO; 21.3-EVO versions prior to 21.3R2-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 confidenceA memory leak exists in the rpd (routing protocol daemon) of Juniper Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved. When BGP rib sharding is in use and an attribute of an active BGP route is updated, the memory allocated for the old attribute is not properly released. Over time, memory usage grows until rpd exhausts available memory, crashes, and restarts, causing a denial of service.
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= 20.3= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3= 20.3= 20.4= 21.2= 21.3CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed Junos versionRun 'show version' or 'show version detail' to display the exact Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version installed on the deviceAffected if The version matches 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3 (any release within these branches)
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Confirm BGP rib sharding is enabledExamine the BGP configuration for rib-sharding statements. Use 'show configuration protocols bgp' and look for 'rib <name>.inet.0' entries with sharding configurations, or check 'show bgp summary' for multiple routing table instancesAffected if BGP rib sharding is configured and active - this is the required condition for the vulnerability to be exploitable
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Monitor rpd memory consumptionExecute 'show task memory' and 'show system processes extensive | match rpd' to observe the resident memory size of the rpd process over timeAffected if Memory usage shows continuous growth without returning to baseline, or approaches system limits
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Check for rpd restart eventsReview system logs with 'show log messages | match rpd' and look for crash, core dump, or restart entriesAffected if Recent rpd restarts or crashes are present, especially without apparent hardware or other software causes
You are affected if your device runs a vulnerable Junos version AND BGP rib sharding is enabled, with observed memory growth in rpd leading to crashes.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpgrade Junos OS/Evo to a fixed version (20.3R3-S2 or later for 20.3 branch, 20.4R3-S6 or later for 20.4, 21.1R3 or later for 21.1, 21.2R3 or later for 21.2, 21.3R2 or later for 21.3). If upgrade is not immediately possible, monitor rpd memory via 'show task memory' and 'show system processes extensive | match rpd' for anomalies, and consider isolating BGP peers if rib sharding is not essential.
Upgrade to the fixed maintenance release for your current branch: 20.3R3-S2, 20.4R3-S6, 21.1R3, 21.2R3, or 21.3R2 (or corresponding Evolved versions)
- 1. Identify the current Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version running on the device using `show version`
- 2. For Junos OS: Upgrade to 20.3R3-S2 or later for 20.3 versions, 20.4R3-S6 or later for 20.4 versions, 21.1R3 or later for 21.1 versions, 21.2R3 or later for 21.2 versions, or 21.3R2 or later for 21.3 versions
- 3. For Junos OS Evolved: Upgrade to 20.4R3-S6-EVO or later for 20.4-EVO versions, 21.2R3-EVO or later for 21.2-EVO versions, or 21.3R2-EVO or later for 21.3-EVO versions
- 4. After upgrade, monitor rpd memory usage using `show task memory` and `show system processes extensive | match rpd` to verify the memory leak is resolved
- 5. Verify the rpd process remains stable over time after the upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28982 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-28982 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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