CVE-2025-59960
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 · uneditedAn Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in the Juniper DHCP service (jdhcpd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a DHCP client in one subnet to exhaust the address pools of other subnets, leading to a Denial of Service (DoS) on the downstream DHCP server. By default, the DHCP relay agent inserts its own Option 82 information when forwarding client requests, optionally replacing any Option 82 information provided by the client. When a specific DHCP DISCOVER is received in 'forward-only' mode with Option 82, the device should drop the message unless 'trust-option82' is configured. Instead, the DHCP relay forwards these packets to the DHCP server unmodified, which uses up addresses in the DHCP server's address pool, ultimately leading to address pool exhaustion. This issue affects Junos OS: * all versions before 21.2R3-S10, * from 21.4 before 21.4R3-S12, * all versions of 22.2, * from 22.4 before 22.4R3-S8, * from 23.2 before 23.2R2-S5, * from 23.4 before 23.4R2-S6, * from 24.2 before 24.2R2-S2, * from 24.4 before 24.4R2, * from 25.2 before 25.2R1-S1, 25.2R2. Junos OS Evolved: * all versions before 21.4R3-S12-EVO, * all versions of 22.2-EVO, * from 22.4 before 22.4R3-S8-EVO, * from 23.2 before 23.2R2-S5-EVO, * from 23.4 before 23.4R2-S6-EVO, * from 24.2 before 24.2R2-S2-EVO, * from 24.4 before 24.4R2-EVO, * from 25.2 before 25.2R1-S1-EVO, 25.2R2-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 confidenceThe Juniper DHCP relay (jdhcpd) fails to properly handle DHCP DISCOVER packets with Option 82 in 'forward-only' mode. When Option 82 is present, the relay should drop the packet unless 'trust-option82' is explicitly configured, but instead forwards these packets unmodified to the DHCP server. This allows a malicious or compromised DHCP client in one subnet to request addresses that consume pools belonging to other subnets, causing address pool exhaustion and DoS on the downstream DHCP server.
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< 21.2= 21.2= 21.4= 22.2= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4= 24.2= 24.4= 25.2< 21.4= 21.4= 22.2= 22.4= 23.2= 23.4= 24.2= 24.4= 25.2CVSS 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 Junos versionRun 'show version' or 'show version detail' on the device CLIAffected if The version matches any of these: Junos < 21.2, 21.2, 21.4, 22.2, 22.4, 23.2, 23.4, 24.2, 24.4, or 25.2 (or Junos OS Evolved < 21.4, 21.4, 22.2, 22.4, 23.2, 23.4, 24.2, 24.4, 25.2)
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Verify DHCP relay (jdhcpd) is configuredRun 'show configuration | display set | match relay' to find any DHCP relay configurationAffected if DHCP relay is configured on any interface (the vulnerability requires the relay to be active)
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Confirm forward-only mode is in useRun 'show configuration | display set | match "forward-only"' under the DHCP relay hierarchyAffected if Forward-only mode is configured on the DHCP relay interface, which is the vulnerable mode for this issue
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Check if trust-option82 is missingRun 'show configuration | display set | match "trust-option82"' to see if Option 82 trust is configuredAffected if Trust-option82 is NOT configured on the relay interface; the vulnerability allows packets to be forwarded when they should be dropped
A device is affected if it runs an affected Junos version, has DHCP relay configured with forward-only mode, and lacks trust-option82 configuration on the interface, allowing untrusted Option 82 packets to bypass filtering and exhaust address pools across subnets.
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 · scoped21.221.4
Configure 'trust-option82' appropriately on the DHCP relay interface, or upgrade to the patched versions specified in the Juniper security advisory (JSA/PSN).
Junos OS: 21.2R3-S10, 21.4R3-S12, 22.4R3-S8, 23.2R2-S5, 23.4R2-S6, 24.2R2-S2, 24.4R2, 25.2R1-S1, or 25.2R2 | Junos OS Evolved: 21.4R3-S12-EVO, 22.4R3-S8-EVO, 23.2R2-S5-EVO, 23.4R2-S6-EVO, 24.2R2-S2-EVO, 24.4R2-EVO, 25.2R1-S1-EVO, or 25.2R2-EVO
- 1. Identify the current Junos OS or Junos OS Evolved version running on the device using 'show version'
- 2. Determine which branch (21.2, 21.4, 22.2, 22.4, 23.2, 23.4, 24.2, 24.4, or 25.2) the current version belongs to
- 3. For Junos OS: upgrade to the first fixed S-release in your branch: 21.2R3-S10, 21.4R3-S12, 22.4R3-S8, 23.2R2-S5, 23.4R2-S6, 24.2R2-S2, 24.4R2, 25.2R1-S1, or 25.2R2
- 4. For Junos OS Evolved: upgrade to the first fixed S-release in your branch: 21.4R3-S12-EVO, 22.4R3-S8-EVO, 23.2R2-S5-EVO, 23.4R2-S6-EVO, 24.2R2-S2-EVO, 24.4R2-EVO, 25.2R1-S1-EVO, or 25.2R2-EVO
- 5. After upgrade, verify the DHCP relay behavior with Option 82 packets in forward-only mode using packet captures
- 6. Alternatively, if immediate upgrade is not possible, configure 'trust-option82' on the DHCP relay interface to explicitly control handling of Option 82 packets (note: this is a mitigation, not a fix for the underlying code bug)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-59960 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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