CVE-2021-0243 Junos OS: EX4300: Stateless firewall policer fails to discard traffic
Attackers can bypass firewall policer limits on Juniper EX4300 switches, causing potential denial of service by forwarding excess traffic.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2021-0243?
CVE-2021-0243 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 22 Apr 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Improper Handling of Unexpected Data in the firewall policer of Juniper Networks Junos OS on EX4300 switches allows matching traffic to exceed set policer limits, possibly leading to a limited Denial of Service (DoS) condition. When the firewall policer discard action fails on a Layer 2 port, it will allow traffic to pass even though it exceeds set policer limits. Traffic will not get discarded, and will be forwarded even though a policer discard action is configured. When the issue occurs, traffic is not discarded as desired, which can be observed by comparing the Input bytes with the Output bytes using the following command: user@junos> monitor interface traffic Interface Link Input bytes (bps) Output bytes (bps) ge-0/0/0 Up 37425422 (82616) 37425354 (82616) <<<< egress ge-0/0/1 Up 37425898 (82616) 37425354 (82616) <<<< ingress The expected output, with input and output counters differing, is shown below: Interface Link Input bytes (bps) Output bytes (bps) ge-0/0/0 Up 342420570 (54600) 342422760 (54600) <<<< egress ge-0/0/1 Up 517672120 (84000) 342420570 (54600) <<<< ingress This issue only affects IPv4 policing. IPv6 traffic and firewall policing actions are not affected by this issue. This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on the EX4300: All versions prior to 17.3R3-S10; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R3-S3; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S11; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R3-S6; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R3-S4; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R3-S6; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R3-S3; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R3-S1; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S1; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R2; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R2.
Weakness: CWE-241
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-0243?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Juniper Junos.
How do I fix CVE-2021-0243?
No fix has been published for CVE-2021-0243 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2021-0243 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-0243 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Juniper Junos
- CVE-2023-36845 Juniper Junos OS EX Series and SRX Series PHP External Variable Modification
- CVE-2020-1631 Juniper Junos OS Path Traversal
- CVE-2025-21590 Juniper Junos OS Improper Isolation or Compartmentalization
- CVE-2023-36851 Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function
- CVE-2023-36844 Juniper Junos OS EX Series PHP External Variable Modification
Sources
Also known as GHSA-686h-45gr-mc75.