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JunosOperating system · Juniper

CVE-2025-52986

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 21.2 / 22.2 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in the routing protocol daemon (rpd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a local, low privileged user to cause an impact to the availability of the device. When RIB sharding is enabled and a user executes one of several routing related 'show' commands, a certain amount of memory is leaked. When all available memory has been consumed rpd will crash and restart. The leak can be monitored with the CLI command: show task memory detail | match task_shard_mgmt_cookie where the allocated memory in bytes can be seen to continuously increase with each exploitation. This issue affects: Junos OS: * all versions before 21.2R3-S9, * 21.4 versions before 21.4R3-S11, * 22.2 versions before 22.2R3-S7, * 22.4 versions before 22.4R3-S7, * 23.2 versions before 23.2R2-S4,  * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S4, * 24.2 versions before 24.2R2, * 24.4 versions before 24.4R1-S2, 24.4R2; Junos OS Evolved: * all versions before 22.2R3-S7-EVO * 22.4-EVO versions before 22.4R3-S7-EVO, * 23.2-EVO versions before 23.2R2-S4-EVO, * 23.4-EVO versions before 23.4R2-S4-EVO, * 24.2-EVO versions before 24.2R2-EVO,  * 24.4-EVO versions before 24.4R2-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 memory leak in the routing protocol daemon (rpd) of Juniper Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a local low-privileged user to cause a denial of service by executing certain routing-related 'show' commands when RIB sharding is enabled. The leaked memory accumulates with each command execution until rpd exhausts all available memory and crashes.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches for the affected Junos OS/Evolved versions. Until patching is possible, monitor memory usage using the documented CLI command and consider disabling RIB sharding if operationally feasible.

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:< 21.2= 21.2= 21.4= 22.2= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4= 24.2= 24.4
Junos Os EvolvedOperating system
Affected:< 22.2= 22.2= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4= 24.2= 24.4

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check Junos OS/Evolved version
    Run 'show version' in the CLI and note the installed version string
    Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions listed in the CVE (< 21.2, 21.2, 21.4, 22.2, 22.4, 23.2, 23.4, 24.2, 24.4 for Junos; < 22.2, 22.2, 22.4, 23.2, 23.4, 24.2, 24.4 for Junos OS Evolved)
  2. Verify RIB sharding is enabled
    Run the CLI command to display RIB sharding configuration status (typically 'show routing kernel' or 'show configuration routing-options' to inspect sharding settings)
    Affected if RIB sharding is enabled on the device - this is a required condition for the vulnerability to be exploitable
  3. Monitor rpd memory consumption
    Run 'show system processes extensive' or 'show system memory' periodically to observe rpd process memory usage over time
    Affected if rpd memory usage shows continuous growth without returning to baseline after executing routing-related show commands
  4. Check for rpd crash logs
    Run 'show log messages' and search for rpd crash indicators or core dump entries
    Affected if Recent rpd crashes or core dumps are present, especially if correlated with execution of routing show commands

The system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Junos version AND has RIB sharding enabled, with rpd memory growing abnormally or recent rpd crashes observed.

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 21.2 / 22.2 or later
Fixed in 21.222.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches for the affected Junos OS/Evolved versions. Until patching is possible, monitor memory usage using the documented CLI command and consider disabling RIB sharding if operationally feasible.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the version-specific patch: Junos OS: 21.2R3-S9, 21.4R3-S11, 22.2R3-S7, 22.4R3-S7, 23.2R2-S4, 23.4R2-S4, 24.2R2, or 24.4R2 | Junos OS Evolved: 22.2R3-S7-EVO, 22.4R3-S7-EVO, 23.2R2-S4-EVO, 23.4R2-S4-EVO, 24.2R2-EVO, or 24.4R2-EVO

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version using 'show version'
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on the current version branch (21.2, 21.4, 22.2, 22.4, 23.2, 23.4, 24.2, or 24.4)
  3. 3. For Junos OS: upgrade to 21.2R3-S9 (if on 21.2 train), 21.4R3-S11 (if on 21.4), 22.2R3-S7 (if on 22.2), 22.4R3-S7 (if on 22.4), 23.2R2-S4 (if on 23.2), 23.4R2-S4 (if on 23.4), 24.2R2 (if on 24.2), or 24.4R1-S2/24.4R2 (if on 24.4)
  4. 4. For Junos OS Evolved: upgrade to 22.2R3-S7-EVO (if on 22.2), 22.4R3-S7-EVO (if on 22.4), 23.2R2-S4-EVO (if on 23.2), 23.4R2-S4-EVO (if on 23.4), 24.2R2-EVO (if on 24.2), or 24.4R2-EVO (if on 24.4)
  5. 5. Before upgrading, backup the current configuration using 'request system snapshot'
  6. 6. Perform the upgrade using 'request system software add' with the appropriate upgrade package
  7. 7. After upgrade, reboot the device using 'request system reboot'
  8. 8. Post-upgrade, verify the fix by checking memory usage: show task memory detail | match task_shard_mgmt_cookie
Caveat Standard Junos upgrade risks apply - ensure compatibility with existing configurations and review release notes for any behavioral changes

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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

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Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-52986 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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