# CVE-2021-0264: Denial of service in Junos OS

> Attackers can crash line cards on specific Juniper routers by sending traffic matching a firewall filter with a syslog action, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Apr 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x88h-4vmv-82q6

## What is CVE-2021-0264?

CVE-2021-0264 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 22 Apr 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the processing of traffic matching a firewall filter containing a syslog action in Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series with MPC10/MPC11 cards installed, PTX10003 and PTX10008 Series devices, will cause the line card to crash and restart, creating a Denial of Service (DoS). Continued receipt and processing of packets matching the firewall filter can create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. When traffic hits the firewall filter, configured on lo0 or any physical interface on the line card, containing a term with a syslog action (e.g. 'term <name> then syslog'), the affected line card will crash and restart, impacting traffic processing through the ports of the line card. This issue only affects MX Series routers with MPC10 or MPC11 line cards, and PTX10003 or PTX10008 Series packet transport routers. No other platforms or models of line cards are affected by this issue. Note: This issue has also been identified and described in technical service bulletin TSB17931 (login required). This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series: 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S2; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3-S2; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R2-S2, 20.2R3; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R2. Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved on PTX10003, PTX10008: All versions prior to 20.4R2-EVO. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS versions prior to 19.3R1.

Weakness: CWE-755 (Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions), CWE-703 (Improper Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-0264?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Juniper Junos, Juniper Junos Os Evolved.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-0264?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-0264 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-0264 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-0264 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Juniper Junos

- [CVE-2023-36845](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36845/): Juniper Junos OS EX Series and SRX Series PHP External Variable Modification (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-1631](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1631/): Juniper Junos OS Path Traversal (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-21590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21590/): Juniper Junos OS Improper Isolation or Compartmentalization (medium 6.7, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-36851](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36851/): Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-36844](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36844/): Juniper Junos OS EX Series PHP External Variable Modification (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-0264 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-0264 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 22 Apr 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-0264 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Juniper Junos. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-0264/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-0264/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-0264
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-0264
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-0264

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-0264/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.