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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2023-44181

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.2 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 Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard vulnerability in storm control of Juniper Networks Junos OS QFX5k devices allows packets to be punted to ARP queue causing a l2 loop resulting in a DDOS violations and DDOS syslog. This issue is triggered when Storm control is enabled and ICMPv6 packets are present on device. This issue affects Juniper Networks: Junos OS * All versions prior to 20.2R3-S6 on QFX5k; * 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S5 on QFX5k; * 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S5 on QFX5k; * 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4 on QFX5k; * 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S3 on QFX5k; * 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S2 on QFX5k; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3 on QFX5k; * 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3 on QFX5k; * 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R2 on QFX5k.

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

Improperly implemented security check in storm control on Juniper QFX5k devices causes ICMPv6 packets to be incorrectly punted to the ARP queue instead of proper handling. This misrouting creates a layer 2 loop, triggering DDOS violations and generating DDOS syslog messages when storm control is enabled and ICMPv6 traffic is present.

MitigationUpgrade Junos OS on QFX5k devices to the fixed versions specified in the Juniper advisory (20.2R3-S6, 20.3R3-S5, 20.4R3-S5, 21.1R3-S4, 21.2R3-S3, 21.3R3-S2, 21.4R3, 22.1R3, or 22.2R2 and later).

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:< 20.2= 20.2= 20.3= 20.4= 21.1= 21.2= 21.3= 21.4= 22.1= 22.2

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 device model
    Run 'show chassis hardware' or 'show version' to confirm the device is a QFX5k series switch (e.g., QFX5100, QFX5110, QFX5120, QFX5200, QFX5210)
    Affected if Device is a QFX5k series switch
  2. Check Junos OS version
    Run 'show version' and compare the installed Junos version against the affected list: < 20.2, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, 22.1, 22.2
    Affected if Installed version matches any of the listed affected versions
  3. Verify storm control is enabled
    Run 'show configuration storm-control' or 'show interfaces' with storm-control details to see if storm control is configured on any interface
    Affected if Storm control is enabled on one or more interfaces
  4. Check for DDOS violation syslogs
    Review system logs (run 'show log messages' or 'show ddos protection statistics') for DDOS-related messages that coincide with ICMPv6 traffic patterns
    Affected if DDOS syslog messages are present and ICMPv6 traffic is flowing through the device
  5. Confirm ICMPv6 traffic presence
    Run 'show interface statistics' or packet capture on uplink ports to verify ICMPv6 packets are being processed
    Affected if ICMPv6 traffic is present on the network while storm control is enabled

A user is affected if they have a QFX5k device running an affected Junos version with storm control enabled and ICMPv6 traffic present, as evidenced by DDOS syslog messages.

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 20.2 or later
Fixed in 20.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Junos OS on QFX5k devices to the fixed versions specified in the Juniper advisory (20.2R3-S6, 20.3R3-S5, 20.4R3-S5, 21.1R3-S4, 21.2R3-S3, 21.3R3-S2, 21.4R3, 22.1R3, or 22.2R2 and later).

Recommended fix High confidence

20.2R3-S6, 20.3R3-S5, 20.4R3-S5, 21.1R3-S4, 21.2R3-S3, 21.3R3-S2, 21.4R3, 22.1R3, or 22.2R2 (depending on current branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Junos OS version on the QFX5k device using 'show version'
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate fixed release based on the current version branch (20.2.x -> 20.2R3-S6+, 20.3.x -> 20.3R3-S5+, 20.4.x -> 20.4R3-S5+, 21.1.x -> 21.1R3-S4+, 21.2.x -> 21.2R3-S3+, 21.3.x -> 21.3R3-S2+, 21.4.x -> 21.4R3+, 22.1.x -> 22.1R3+, 22.2.x -> 22.2R2+)
  3. 3. Download the appropriate Junos OS upgrade image from Juniper Networks support portal
  4. 4. Upload the upgrade image to the QFX5k device
  5. 5. Install the upgrade using 'request system software add <package name>' command
  6. 6. Reboot the device using 'request system reboot' command
  7. 7. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version'
  8. 8. Confirm storm control functionality is operational and the infinite loop issue is resolved
Caveat Standard Junos OS upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for any configuration or feature changes between versions

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
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,420
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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-2023-44181 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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